Just A Job
by Miran Anders
Summary: Movieverse, but back before the movies, when fresh out of college Virginia Potts got called up to be Tony Stark's personal assistant. I like to play with beginnings. Has now progressed through the first movie... And... let's see where it goes, shall we?
1. Just A Job: In the Beginning

_Set before the movies, before the armor, before any of that… Set, instead, about five years after a young Anthony Stark is forced to take over his father's company. I have read bits about the origin of Pepper's nickname, so that is not mine. The rest is just a little story bug that was stuck in my head. I enjoy hearing them talk to each other. _

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_**oOo**_

_**JUST A JOB**_

_**oOo**_

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"Look, just get him someone he won't sleep with, because she'll be gone in a week when he dumps her. She doesn't have to be that smart, she has to be…" Obadiah Stane rolled his eyes, sweeping his arms upward. "She has to be _tolerant_. You know how the kid is."

"I understand, Mr. Stane." Elise Truman, the veteran human resources head for Stark Industries, very quietly took a deep breath. True, if there were a revolving door on their young president's secretarial door, it would be a lot easier – but she just couldn't hold it against him. She had been a lifelong friend with the boy's mother, and still had a certain aunt-like fondness for him. It was easier, though, to let Obadiah Stane think she was completely on his side. She'd seen what happened to people who disagreed with the way he ran the company. They didn't work here anymore. "I have his latest selection coming in for an interview in half an hour."

"Fine." The CEO growled like a bear as he strode toward the door. "Just get it done. And make sure she can keep him out of my hair."

The door slammed after him, and Elise allowed herself a dignified little smirk. _What hair, bucko?_ Her thought was interrupted by a genteel knock on the door. _Well, I know that's not Stane again. He just barges._ She stood and walked to the door, opening it briskly.

The girl that stood on the other side didn't quite look old enough to be out of college. She was dressed in a stylish but demure suit, the narrow skirt complimenting her figure without advertising. Her hair, long and strawberry blonde, was pulled back from the sides into a clip. Freckles dusted her nose. Elise liked her immediately.

"Yes?"

"Hello, Mrs. Truman? I'm Virginia Potts. I'm your two o'clock?"

The older woman smiled. "Of course. Come in, Miss Potts. I understand that Mr. Stark is looking to take you on as his personal assistant."

"So I've heard… but he didn't speak directly to me. He just sort of… gestured after I found that mistake."

Elise sighed. "Yes, that sounds like him." She opened a file folder and paged through it. "This is really just a formality. While Mr. Stark is the President of the company, Mr. Stane is our CEO and has some say in these matters… but if Tony – Mr. Stark, that is, really wants you, then he'll have you."

The younger woman startled a bit at her phrasing, but said nothing.

The HR director looked again at the attractive young woman, and did a quick calculation. Closing the file folder, she folded her hands on top of it.

"Miss Potts, may I be frank?"

Miss Potts blinked, a little nervous, but clearly handling herself well. "Of course."

"Virginia… your qualifications are stellar. I can't imagine anyone having any trouble with you working under Mr. Stark."

"Well… thank you." _Work _under_ Mr. Stark? Oh, boy… is this place swimming in innuendo, or am I getting into something crazy? _ "I assume that's good?"

"Of course – and the frank part is this: I have had to hire fourteen 'personal assistants' in the five years that young Mr. Stark has been President of the company."

Virginia's jaw dropped involuntarily. "Fourteen? Is the job that taxing?"

"Well, yes, dear," the woman sighed, "But not half so taxing as Mr. Stark is. He is also quite handsome, and charming, and very much a ladies man." She dusted her hands together, and sat back to look at Virginia once more. "Please understand. I have nothing but respect for the boy – the man, I mean. But he does tend to get involved, and _then_ realize that he can't be involved with someone he has to work with every day. Do you understand?"

The younger woman sat a bit straighter in her chair, and an indignant blush touched her cheek, making her freckles stand out more. "I have no intention of getting involved with my boss."

Elise smiled. "No, Virginia. I'm sure you don't."

"I have plans, Mrs. Truman. I want to be a success. And I certainly don't intend to sleep my way to the top."

There was a long silence while Elise studied her. "Yes. I believe you. And quite frankly, Miss Potts, I like you. I think you may do him good."

"Oh?"

"Yes. I don't know the last time someone said 'no' to him."

The younger woman's eyebrows lifted, and she opened her mouth, closing it again when she realized she had nothing to say to that. Eventually, her brain caught up. "So… when do I start?"

Mrs. Truman chuckled, opening the file again. "According to Mr. Stark, you started at nine this morning."

"This morning? But – well – where do I go? I haven't seen him today."

"Yes. That happens. I believe he's out at the house site. He believes in working from home, but of course, that means he had to build one." She flipped through a few pages, mumbling under her breath. "Heaven forbid he should be getting anything done here." She found an envelope among the paperwork and nodded. "You'll have a driver, of course, a car… oh. And this."

Virginia took the envelope and opened it, sliding the object inside out into her hand. The flat, rectangular device had two or three buttons, and a screen. She stared at it for a moment. "I'm sorry… what is this?"

"It's a cell phone."

"But… there's no keypad."

Elise reached over and touched one of the buttons, and the screen sprang to life. "Interactive touch screen. Evidently they'll be all the rage once he gets around to selling the licensing for the design. And if you talk to it for a few minutes, it will learn to recognize your voice… for now, it's a direct line between you and Mr. Stark."

She looked into Virginia's startled eyes, and made a face. "It's _experimental_. I believe this is the Mark IV communications device… and since it's been around for more than a week, I'm expecting the Mark V any day now." Miss Potts blinked. "You get used to it, trust me."

Virginia touched the screen, and a picture of herself from her company ID appeared. The name under it said, 'Pepper'. "_Pepper_?" She looked up at the older woman, her eyebrows coming together.

"Yes. He has referred to you by that name since he broached the subject of hiring you. He is dreadful with names, so the people he needs most often have nicknames… he said something about pepper spray when I asked?"

Virginia blushed just a bit. "Well, when I had to show him the mistake, the guards wouldn't let me in… I didn't really have any, but –"

Elise stood and let out a delighted laugh, extending her hand. "Well, then, 'Pepper'. Welcome to the inner circle." _God help you._

"Thank you." Pepper looked at her, a million questions in her head. Glancing at the phone in her hand, she said, "Does this come with a manual?"

Elise sighed. "No, and I'm afraid neither does Mr. Stark. Good luck."

oOo

The newly anointed 'Pepper' sat in the back of a black sedan, chauffeured by a quiet, efficient driver. She felt like an absolute idiot as he drove into the company airfield, and stopped in front of a helicopter. "Ah, where exactly are we going?"

"The build site, miss. Mickey is your pilot. You should be there in no time."

"I thought you were going to drive me?"

"Mr. Stark called and asked that you be airlifted. Evidently he needs your opinion on something." The driver gave her a tight smile. "He's not the most patient man."

"I see." _My opinion? Already?_ She looked the helicopter over, and with a shrug, got in. "Where are we headed?"

The pilot grinned over at her. "Malibu."

The flight was, as promised, quick. She couldn't figure out why they had ducked out over the Pacific until she caught the view of the house from the sea. "Oh, good Lord…"

"It's something, eh?" The pilot slowed so she could appreciate it. "Not finished inside yet, of course, but most of the outside framework is."

Pepper stared, wide-eyed. "And those windows! But… it looks like it could fall in. I mean…"

"Have to ask the boss about that." He grinned again and landed them deftly on a field close to the house. Without stopping the rotors, he reached across and unhooked her door. "This is your stop."

She shook her head in resignation. "Thanks," then dashed out away from the chopper. As soon as she was out of range, it lifted again, like a great black and red dragonfly. Pepper frowned as it flew away. _He has a custom paint job on his helicopter. Of course he does._

Turning, she almost collided with a man wearing jeans and a dirty t-shirt. If it weren't for the dark eyes and the goatee on that grimy face, she might not have recognized her boss.

"Good. You're here."

"Yes. Hello, Mr. Stark."

"_Tony_."

"I beg your pardon?" He began walking quickly back to the house, and she trotted to keep up, trying not to stumble on the rough ground, and glad she wore her most sensible heels.

"Tony. Look, Pepper, if you're going to be my –"

"If I'm going to be your personal assistant, I would prefer keeping it more formal, Mr. Stark." He stopped, turned, and his dark eyes seemed to look directly through her.

"Seriously?"

She stood up a bit taller, and nodded as if agreeing with herself. "Yes. I should prefer that." She looked into his eyes again, and swallowed. "Sir."

He held his stare for a moment longer, then his shoulders dropped like a disappointed teenager. "Oh, no. No, no, no. I can take _Mr. Stark _from you, but not 'sir'. 'Sir' is a bit much for me to accept - _Miss Potts_."

Pepper blinked, nodded, and found herself staring at his back as he headed for the house again. _So far so good_, she thought. _But good heavens. Those _eyes_. I can see why so many women…_ cutting off her thought before it went any further, she nearly ran into him as he stopped abruptly.

"Okay. This is what I want your opinion on." He pointed to the wall around the front door, which was a darker shade on the right than on the left. "Which is better?"

For a long moment she stared at him. Then she glanced at the wall, then stared at him again, her anger rising. "You're kidding."

"What?"

"You flew me out here because you need a _woman's_ opinion on _colors_? Mr. Stark, if this is what the job –"

His response was equally defensive. "Miss Potts, this is a specially formulated textural concrete polymer mix, which I worked on for an awfully long time. It should keep the house in one piece and on the cliff in case of an earthquake. If you think that's too _girlie_ for you to have an opinion on, then –"

"No, no, it's not that. It's just that I thought you – I mean, I thought you were –"

"Well, let's not assume, shall we?"

Pepper straightened up. "I apologize, Mr. Stark." He nodded, and they both seemed a bit sheepish in the wake of their bluster. _This is a hell of a way to start a job!_ She looked at the wall again. "So. What exactly is the difference between the two sides?"

He stared at the wall for a long time. "I, ah…." He looked down, biting his lower lip before he looked back to her. "Well, the difference… is…actually… the color."

She rolled her eyes.

"But I really can't decide." He came so close to whining that he managed to look sincerely embarrassed, which somehow made him appear more charming. "Listen. I need someone in this position whose opinions I can trust. What do you think?"

Pepper stared at the wall, but her mind was spinning. _You could quit, you know. You could leave right now, no one would blame you. This isn't what you signed up for. It's as if he needs someone to take care of him, and you're no babysitter. _ She spun to face him, ready to -

His dark eyes were wide, and she was surprised to see through his defiantly macho shields, almost painfully hopeful.

_Good Lord_, she thought. _He really doesn't have anyone to ask these things! He doesn't have… anyone._

_Just like me._

Hiding her reaction, she looked around at the rocky cliffs, blinked a few times, and then pointed at the right side of the door. "That one. Matches the natural stone better."

Tony looked around, then clapped his hands together and pointed at her. "You're right! You're absolutely right. Remember to tell the walls foreman."

"The walls foreman?"

"Exactly. Come on in, let me introduce you to the house."

"You want _me_ to tell the walls foreman? I don't even know –"

He opened the door ceremoniously and motioned for her to come in. "Jarvis?"

"Yes, Sir?"

Pepper looked around. "You have a butler in here already?"

"No, Jarvis is the house intelligence system." He watched for her reaction, which she held in check surprisingly well.

"Of course it is."

Almost disappointed, he said, "Jarvis, this is Miss Potts. She's my personal assistant now. She'll have full access."

"Full, sir?"

"Full. Set her up with her own codes. Send them to her house email."

"I don't have house email –"

"You do now. Here. This house." He snatched a card up from a half finished counter and handed it to her. "Make it happen, Jarvis. And send her my address as well."

"As you wish. Welcome, Miss Potts."

Pepper looked a little overwhelmed as she turned the card over. It had _PepperP_ written on it, over his personal domain site. She nodded gamely. "Ah, hello, Jarvis. A pleasure to meet you." She turned and looked at Tony. "So how come _he_ can call you 'sir'?"

Tony looked at her for a long moment. "Because _he_ makes it sound impressive." He kept a straight face, but she couldn't for long. When she finally dropped her head and smiled, it was like the sun came out.

"So, Miss Potts… what do you think?"

"About the house? It's amazing, so far."

"And the job?" He tossed it off casually, but she could already see through him.

"The _job_. Well… the job is going to be interesting," She gave him a sincere little smile. "I'm willing to give it a try." He nodded. "But, first, I would like to ask you something."

He gave her his full attention, which was a bit unnerving. "Yes?"

"Mrs. Truman said that you've… gone through a lot of personal assistants since you've become president of the company."

Tony looked past her, then down. "Yes?"

"Mr. Stark." His eyes lifted to meet hers. "I expect a professional relationship. That is all."

His head bobbed toward one shoulder. "And... that's probably a good idea. I need someone I can depend on to be there for me."

"And not just be there in the morning?" _Oh, Lord. I said that_. She waited for him to respond, but he just stared at her.

"Yes." For a long moment they stared into each other's eyes. "Anything else, Miss Potts?"

She blinked, and pushed her hair back over her ear. "No, I think that about covers it… for now."

"Good. That's good. Good. You hungry? We've got a lot of house to cover."

"Well, I could –"

"Great. Order a pizza, okay? No anchovies." He darted toward the stairs, and turned to motion to her when he was a few steps down. "Come on. I'll show you the workshop!" For a instant, he sounded like he was fifteen years old, enthusiasm bubbling over.

Pepper stood for a moment after he was out of sight, and looked around the house. _So this is what life is going to be like? Well, just for a while. This is great for just out of college, but you have plans, remember? Yeah, plans…_ Somehow, being Anthony Stark's personal assistant was never on that list… _I could certainly learn a lot_… _But he's out of his mind! He's crazy! _

She giggled at herself as she moved to follow him downstairs.

_Well, that figures, doesn't it? __He's… Stark. Raving mad._

And perhaps she was a bit crazy, too – because even though it was just a job - she found she was already beginning to enjoy it.

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…_please feed the author…_


	2. Just A Job: The Early Years

_And now it's two chapters. Hmh. If you enjoy this story, I hope you check out my other IM stories… reviews are making me write more!_

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oOo

**_JUST A JOB: The Early Years_**

oOo

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"Miss Potts? Is that you?"

The figure that had been ambling past Elise Truman's office was a familiar sight. She walked confidently while not looking where she was going; a pen writing with one hand on a sheaf of files cradled in the other arm; a cup of coffee in that hand acting as more of a bookend for the files than a beverage. She stopped and looked up from her notes. "Oh, hi, Mrs. Truman. And you can call me Pepper, of course." _ Dang. When did I start calling myself that? I don't even let him -_

"Elise is fine, dear. How you can walk that fast while reading and making notes, I'll never know."

"I'm afraid I've gotten used to it, following Mr. Stark. He doesn't slow down much."

"I'm sure. How are you holding up?"

Pepper sighed and looked off in the distance before looking back with a smile. "So far, so good." They shared a laugh, and Pepper stepped over the threshold of her office. "Do you have a moment?"

"Of course. Sit." The older woman indicated the sitting area in her large office, with a small couch and a couple chairs clustered comfortably around a glass coffee table. "I could use a moment myself. What's new?" She walked over to a cabinet and filled two cups, offering one to Pepper. "Here. I'm sure that one's cold."

Pepper laughed, but took it gratefully after she set down her papers and tossed the dead cardboard container of what was once coffee. "Thank you," she said, sipping. "Oh, that's good. It's so rare that I get to drink more than a couple sips while it's still hot."

Elise closed her office door, and they settled into the comfortable chairs. "So?"

Pepper looked a little doubtful. "Well…"

"Don't worry, dear." The older woman kicked off her elegant pumps and put her feet up on the coffee table as she cradled her mug. "Lunchtime. I'm off duty."

Pepper chuckled and smiled gratefully. "I know you've known him since he was younger…" she sipped again, thoughtfully, and tipped her head to one side. "He doesn't relax very well, does he."

"No, not really. Never has. I'm afraid part of it was inherited from Howard. I could never tell if it was a competition between them or if Tony was just trying to prove something to himself… whether it was that he could be better than his father or different from him, I couldn't quite tell. Maria was always a little concerned about him." She shrugged. "But I'm no psychiatrist. Do you think he's worse than he was before?"

"No, not worse… maybe I'm just getting used to him. " She grinned as she heard Elise laugh. "Okay, I don't know if I'll ever _get_ _used_ to him, but… I'm trying to understand him better."

"Well, my dear, good luck with that!"

oOo

Miss Potts walked up to the door of Stark house, and keyed in her code. Immediately a cultured voice greeted her. "Good afternoon, Miss Potts."

"Good afternoon, Jarvis." She put her things down on the counter and looked around. It had been ten months since she first set foot in the house, and she wouldn't have believed it would be finished by now. Of course, she also wouldn't have believed the voice she _conversed_ with most, in the most friendly manner, would belong to… a house. "So where is the great and wonderful Oz?"

There was a pause as Jarvis added this new entry to his database. "In the garage, Miss. I believe he has an engine out at the moment."

"Oh, good grief," she said, paging through a stack of unopened mail to find what he missed this time. "Not the Shelby again."

"I'm afraid so, Miss."

"I wish he'd leave that poor car alone. It only frustrates him."

"Yes, Miss. But he seems to find it relaxing."

"I don't know about that. _Especially_ with the Shelby. I'm afraid one of these days he's going to take a sledgehammer to it and crush it flat." She tossed the rest of the mail on the counter. "You know what they say. 'You can't teach a pig to sing'."

There was a longish pause. "And is there a reason they say that? Other than the obvious biological impossibilities?"

She smiled. "They say 'it only wastes your time, and irritates the pig.'" A longer pause had her imagining Jarvis filing this one away into a large file marked 'humans', with a huge question mark as its icon. "So, how dirty is it down there today?"

"Far from sterile, but not overly contaminated with petroleum byproducts. Yet."

She grinned as she headed for the stairs. Good thing her boss could afford to replace the dress that she'd ruined last week, 'just holding' a carburetor for a minute. Halfway down the stairs the music hit her like a wall. She keyed in her password at the door, and turned the volume down at the same time. Looking across the room, she nearly sighed.

There he was. His hair completely disheveled, wearing a tank top and sweatpants. As he turned, she could see a streak of oil across his cheek, matching one on his arm.

"Please don't ever turn down my music."

She stared at him for a moment before giving a mental shrug, ignoring his comment. "There's a benefit tonight. A fundraiser for something, I can't remember at the moment…"

"Can't. Just send them more money." He turned a bolt and touched the computer screen nearby. "Jarvis, what's the torque rating on this?"

"Point six five, sir."

"Right." He looked at the bolt and tightened it a bit more. "That should do it."

"You said you'd be there. You can't just -"

"I need to finish this. Did the delivery come yet?"

"Finish this? You'll never finish this. You've been working on this for – well, at least as long as I've known you."

He stopped for a moment and stared at her, his dark eyes shadowed by unkempt hair falling across his forehead. "That's probably true. But isn't that all the more reason I should get it done?"

Pepper stared at him. _How could a man who looked so amazing in a custom tailored Armani suit look even better in grimy work clothes? Is it the less he wears? And if that's the case, I wonder how he looks-_ "No!" she said aloud, unintentionally, as she attempted to quiet her imagination.

"No?"

She put a hand to her head, trying to stay level. "No. No, it's not a good reason and no, ah, delivery. Not yet."

He frowned slightly at her, and then dropped down to slide under the car again. "Give me a hand with this."

"Under the car?"

"Well, over it won't help much."

"In this dress?"

He slid out on the creeper board and gave her an exaggerated once over. The blue suit fit her like a glove, and matched her eyes in a way that was far from accidental. "You could take it off." He paused long enough for her to give him an exasperated look, and then he smirked and slid back under the car.

"You're impossible."

"That's not what I've heard. I understand I'm pretty easy." A clang of metal on metal was accompanied by a soft curse. "Are you going to stand there, or are you going to help?"

Pepper rolled her eyes and threw her hands in the air. "Fine. Give me a minute to change." She walked over to a locker and yanked it open with some annoyance, pulled out the coveralls he'd ordered for her and swept her hair back into a ponytail. "I'll be right back."

Twenty minutes later they were head to head, or, rather, ear to ear under the Shelby, having slid under the car from opposite sides. "Hold this."

"Yuck."

"Yuck? Miss Potts, I'm assuming that you have seen the internal workings of a car before…do they fit all right?"

"They're fine. Thank you. Although the 'Pepper' embroidered here is kind of -"

He pushed a tube out of the way. "Ha! There it is."

"There what is?" She leaned a bit closer, trying to see.

"The leak. That gasket must be shot. You see?" He turned his head at the same time she did, and their noses nearly touched. Startled, they both froze, until Tony pulled back an inch to focus on her, upside down. He put on his best leer. "Miss Potts, we must stop meeting like this."

Pepper felt the blush coming on and started to slide out from under the car. He tried to grab her arm but she pulled away, and he was so distracted that he made the mistake of trying to sit up quickly under a couple tons of car. "Pepper, wait - Ow!"

She stopped and looked back at him, then slipped out from under her side of the car and ran around to his. "Mr. Stark? Are you alright?"

"Ow. I'm fine…" his voice dropped to mumbled curses. "Oh, great. Except for the blood."

"Blood?" Without thinking twice she grabbed his legs and pulled him out from under the car. She pulled so hard that the creeper board actually slid two feet beyond the Shelby. She took one look at his forehead and reached for the first aid kit. "Let me see."

"I'm fine. Really. Stop it, – Miss Potts." He grabbed her wrist as she reached to push his hair out of the way, and their eyes met. The blue against the brown, like the ocean against the shore. Her eyebrow lifted as her gaze dropped for a moment to where he was clutching her wrist and he let go, embarrassedly. "I'm fine."

"Then you won't mind me taking a look."

"Yes, I will mind." He started to sit up, and grabbed his head. "Ow."

"Tony." He blinked, startled, and looked back into her eyes. A smile softened her expression. "I'm just going to clean it off. I promise. I won't hurt you. It'll be okay." Their gaze locked for more time than was absolutely necessary, and he finally shrugged.

"Okay. I mean, if you're going to promise and all."

"Good." She took out a towel and an antiseptic wipe, cleaning the sweat and motor oil off his forehead before approaching the injury with a clean wipe. "Okay. This might sting a little." He frowned but said nothing as she cleaned him off. "Looks like it's not too bad. Right on your scalp line, though, that's why it bled so well."

He was staring at her eyes as she worked, and his expression was unreadable. "So."

She put a small gauze pad on it and held it down with a couple butterflies. "Yes?"

"Does this mean I can call you 'Pepper' now?"

"No."

"No?" He did a good job of appearing to be confused. "But you called me 'Tony'."

"That was different. That was an emergency."

"Oh, it was."

"Yes. It was."

"So I can call you Pepper in emergencies?" He looked up at her with such a puppy dog expression that she almost laughed. "I mean, shouldn't I get something? It was your fault that I –"

"My fault?"

"Yes, your fault. I made a joke and you were clearly offended, and I was trying to apologize, and –"

"You were trying to apologize?"

"Well… yes. I was trying to stop you long enough to make sure you knew it was a joke, anyway…" he mumbled. "I should at least get a sucker or something. I mean, a real nurse –"

She finished up, wiped her hands, and gave him a long-suffering sigh. "All right, Mr. Stark. You may, occasionally, call me 'Pepper'. But only in private. I mean, when we're alone." She shook her head. "You know what I mean."

His face brightened with the most genuine smile she had seen. "I do. Pepper." She rolled her eyes and he stuck out his hand. "Thank you for patching me up."

Pepper stared at him, and finally smiled, shaking his hand. "You're welcome. Tony."

oOo

Two hours later, they finished replacing the gasket. They sat on the floor nearby, staring at the car. "I can't believe it's done."

"I don't believe it's done."

"You don't?" He stood and walked over to a small fridge, and took out two beers. Opening them, he offered one to her. She frowned, started to protest, and then shrugged.

"Thanks. No… that car hates people. There'll be something else."

"I thought you were the optimist?"

"I am, it's just – uh oh."

"What?"

"Do you see that? Under the car?"

He squinted. "That's just some leftover steering fluid from the gasket change."

"Not with that color, it isn't."

Tony walked over, squatted down next to the car and wiped his finger across the liquid. "Crap."

"Told you. You should get rid of this car now, before it kills you."

He was staring thoughtfully at the floor, and she tilted her head, recognizing the 'thinking' look. "What is it?"

"I'm thinking of coming up with some powerful small floor robots – you know, ones that could scrub the muck out of this floor. I don't want it to get messed up, and all the oil-based fluids leave a mess –"

"Why don't you just make a better floor? You know, maybe some kind of concrete polymer that rejects the stuff." He turned slowly to look at her as she sipped her beer, and she waggled her eyebrows at him. "Pretty smart for a PA, eh?"

"Yeah. Pretty smart."

"I'm going to change. Not that this hasn't been delightful, but I have plans tonight."

"Plans? You can have plans?"

"I can tonight. It's in my contract. Religious holidays, and my birthday." He frowned, and she laughed. "It's my birthday."

"Oh. Well. Happy birthday."

She bowed dramatically. "I thank you. See you in the morning, boss."

"Pepper?" She stopped, and turned slowly.

"Yes?"

"Ah… thank you. It would have been a lot harder without you."

Her head tilted once more, and she gave him a little grin. "You're welcome, Tony."

As she walked away, Tony stood and stared after her. She was smart, she was funny, she could handle him like no other woman had… _Get your head straight, Stark. She's not interested, and you don't want her to be. You need her to just… be here._ Turning back to the Shelby, he noticed that the tiny puddle was slowly growing. Finishing his beer in one go, he shook his head.

"I swear, car. One of these days I will smash you."

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…_please feed the author_…


	3. Just a Job: Will That Be All

_And here we are, somewhere in the fifth year of the job. _

_Clearly, given the situations involved, it couldn't all have been terribly cheerful… yet I hope you enjoy it._

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oOo

_**JUST A JOB: Will That Be All**_

oOo

* * *

Anthony Stark opened the front door, laughing, and called out in a slightly drunken voice. "Jarvis, I'm ho-ome."

"Good evening, sir. I see you have a guest?"

"Sure do."

His escort giggled loudly, and he looked at her. Back at the bar, that giggle had been cute – although, come to think of it, it had been muted by the band that was playing. Now, it was starting to become annoying, which could only mean one thing. He was sobering up. He thought he'd had enough in the limo, but then, she _had_ been keeping him busy.

"So…" he tried in vain to remember her name, and gave up. "How about a drink?"

"Perfect. Make mine an appletini." The tall, leggy blond practically gushed as she walked past him into the living room, not noticing the almost pained look on his face. "Oh. My. God. This place is gorgeous!"

Tony walked behind the bar and spoke quietly. "Jarvis… what the hell is in an appletini." A screen inserted in the flat top of the counter lit up, and he read off the recipe. "Great." He quickly made a somewhat abbreviated version of her drink, poured his scotch, and downed half a glass in one go.

She turned back to look at him standing there, and again, the giggle. Shutting his eyes tightly for a moment, he took a deep breath, then refilled his glass. The woman was certainly attractive, and her body was… well, frankly amazing. She snatched her drink and snuggled up to him, whispering in a breathy voice.

"So, hot stuff. Where's the bedroom?"

He sipped again, and motioned with his glass. "That way." She danced on ahead of him, oohing and ahhing as she went. Tony stood for a moment looking after her, then shook his head and began to follow.

"A moment, Sir?"

He stopped, blinked. "Now, Jarvis?"

"Just a reminder, sir. The technicians will be in the workroom tomorrow early, to install the glass wall screens."

"Ah. Right. Thanks. Don't forget to update the codes once its system is attached to the mainframe. Got it?"

"I wouldn't _dream_ of forgetting, sir." There was a discreet pause, and Tony was _sure_ he only imagined the disdain in the tone of voice. _Pretty_ sure. "Will you have the new windows installed in your bedroom as well? All the panels for the job are currently on site."

Stark looked toward his bedroom, tilted his head to the side, and shrugged. "Sure, yeah, why not. Make it after noon."

"Indeed, sir. Have a pleasant sleep."

Tony snorted a laugh that had a tinge of sigh. "I'll do my best…"

* * *

oOo

* * *

It was just before eight in the morning when Tony walked out of his private wing and into the kitchen.

"Good morning, sir."

"Morning, Jarvis." He walked over to the counter and saw a pot of coffee waiting. "Thanks. Is the crew here yet?"

"Come and gone, sir."

"What?" He spun to look toward the workroom stairs. "What do you mean, come and gone? Didn't they –"

"The crew arrived at five thirty this morning, sir. They've finished the workroom wall, and will be coming back at one to install the bedroom screens."

Tony deflated a bit. "Oh…well. How does it look?"

"Since it is not yet attached to my mainframe, it looks very much like a wall. Made of glass." There was a pause that somehow managed to sound sarcastic. "Sir."

The young inventor rolled his eyes, taking a gulp of coffee. "Killjoy."

He left his mug on the counter and sprinted down the workroom stairs. Halfway down he could hear music_. They were playing with my sound system? And Jarvis left it on?_ Anger surged, but was overrun by confusion as he went a few more steps and it dawned on him just what he was hearing. A light soprano was singing over – of all things – what sounded like a Disney love song. He shook his head as he turned the corner and saw, to his surprise, Pepper Potts; standing on a stepladder and polishing the upper portion of the wall screen.

He blinked, noticing too that instead of her usual professional garb, she was wearing jeans and a snug, scoop necked t-shirt in a flattering shade of teal. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and her bangs were fluffed and askew from being brushed back too many times.

She sang loudly as she worked, certain she was alone, and completely uninhibited.

_"…barely even friends  
Then somebody bends  
Unexpectedly_

_Just a little change_  
_Small, to say the least_  
_Both a little scared_  
_Neither one prepared- "_

"Miss Potts?" She turned, startled, and nearly lost her footing. He moved forward to steady the ladder, but she caught herself against the wall. Then she looked where she had braced with her hand and made an annoyed noise, spraying a solution on and wiping off the handprint.

"Mr. Stark! You nearly scared me to death." She blushed, caught, but he thought her embarrassed little smile was adorable as she quickly added, "Jarvis? Turn off the music, please!"

It stopped instantly, and Tony frowned as he grinned up at her. "You don't have to stop." _Adorable? Since when do I find things adorable?_

"Oh, trust me, I think I do…"

"No, really. It sounded… nice." While his face seemed to be a study in not reacting, there was something about his eyes that suggested he was thinking quite hard.

She tried to interpret his expression, and failed. It was a look she was seeing more and more on him these days. It was amazing that she had worked for this man for over five years, and still, so often, felt like she barely knew what made him tick. "Oh, yes, I'm sure you're terribly fond of a good soupy ballad. And isn't this where you make fun of me for singing Miss Potts' song?"

"Pardon?" His eyes were still on her face, but his memory was apparently determined to continue tracing the curve of her jeans.

"Yes. Even Jarvis caught that one. But then, he probably has more variety in his music database." She finished polishing the wall and put the cloth and solution into a holder on the top of the ladder. "Maybe Disney will come out with a heavy metal version, and then –" She stopped as she looked down at him, almost frowning. There was definitely something about the way he was looking at her. "Mr. Stark?"

He cleared his throat and looked down the wall of glass, trying to clear his head. _Have I ever heard her sing before? I must have. But I think I would have remembered. It's not even like she has a phenomenal voice, but its just so… sweet. Sweet? Seriously? What the hell is wrong with me these days?_ _And why does she have to look so good in denim, when she already looks so good in business clothes?_

He tried to put on his customary smirk as he looked back at her. "So what are you doing up there? Besides tainting my speakers with animated love songs, that is."

She felt her concern slip away into their usual banter. _Just like always. Keep it professional, or keep it light_. "Oh. This?" She motioned at the glass. "The crew got the walls in, but they had to check on some of the hardware connections outside. It should be up soon." She looked back at the wall and frowned, looking for any remaining dust. "I know how long you worked on these, and that you were really looking forward to them being installed… so I wanted them to look their best when you saw them the first time…"

His eyes darkened as he stared at her. _Really? You came in on your morning off, early, just to make sure my walls were sparkling when I saw them the first time?_ "Well… thank you. That's, ah, really, very –"

"Tony-kins?" A giggle followed the question from the stairs. "Where did you run off to?"

His eyes closed for a moment, and when he opened them, all he could see was a pained expression on Pepper's face - just for a moment - before it froze into a businesslike blankness, taking all emotion with it. _Great. Something she learned from me…_

"Ooooh! This is your workroom? It's so big! And look at those cars!" His current liaison walked in wearing only her underwear and the pale blue dress shirt he had been wearing the night before.

Tony turned quickly and spoke very quietly to his assistant. "We need a door higher up."

Pepper bit back her first response. "I'll make a note. _Sir_."

His eyes widened slightly in exasperation, but he only shook his head before turning back to the woman whose name still eluded him. "Yeah, right, listen, I'll be upstairs in a minute, okay?"

The blond pouted grandly. "But Tony…"

His voice became a bit more strained. "Upstairs. This area is classified. I'll be up soon."

"Classified. Oooh." She sighed a bit, and made a slow, dramatic exit up the stairs. As she reached the corner she turned and looked back at him. "Well, hurry." Her glance moved to Pepper, and she spoke in a rather condescending voice. "By the way, this shirt is going to need washing." And with a smirk she turned and vanished up the stairs.

Tony actually looked mortified, and turned to his personal assistant. He had to say something. _Something_. Anything_. I'm sorry she said that, she's just this girl… I'm sorry, she doesn't mean anything… I…_ But nothing came out by the time Miss Potts had descended from the ladder and was putting away the cleaning supplies.

"Miss Potts…"

"I'm sure everything will be ready for you to test once you have time, Mr. Stark. And I'll talk to the workmen about installing a coded hallway door so you won't be interrupted so easily."

"Pepper."

She looked at him, her voice and expression completely under control. "Yes, Mr. Stark?"

There was a long moment as they stared at each other. "You're mad."

"I'm _certainly_ not mad."

He looked a little lost. "Upset?"

She looked away, then back. "What you do and who you do it with is none of my business."

There was something so cold in her delivery that he almost took a step back. "No. I suppose not." Then, trying to establish his usual teasing with her, he added with a leer, "Of course, if you _wanted_ to get involved-"

Miss Potts took a deep breath, cutting him off harshly. "Will that be –"

She was interrupted by a sudden blink of light, and the clear glass walls glowed blue for an instant before going clear, then opaque, then clear again. Strands of blue-white light briefly outlined the active screen portions of the wall, then faded, leaving only the touch panel near the door. Tony lit up like a child at Christmas.

"Yes!" Dashing over to the workbench, he typed quickly on the keyboard there, then turned to look at the walls. "Perfect, this is perfect. Jarvis, did you run the connections test yet?"

"Doing it now, sir."

Pepper, nearly as distracted as her boss, stared at the walls. "This is amazing."

"I know."

She couldn't help it. It was _definitely_ annoying, the way he could suddenly appear so charming to her – and even _more_ annoying that it was usually when he wasn't trying to be. She gave the back of his head a resigned smile. "Do you need anything else?"

"No, I've got a couple hours here." He scanned the screens as various patterns and drawings appeared, oblivious at the moment. "Jarvis, check the resolution on panel three. Is that a - no, no, there it is."

"Mr. Stark." Her slightly sharper tone caught his ear, and he glanced over at her. She blinked once or twice, waiting for him to catch on, and then nodded toward the stairs with her head. "Your… friend?"

He frowned for a moment, as if trying to understand, and then looked back to the wall dismissively. "Just get rid of her. I've got too much to do down here." A positive chill emanating from the direction of his personal assistant made him look back. "What?"

It had been a long day, and it was not yet nine o'clock in the morning. Pepper later blamed her outspoken lack of tact on that fact. "I don't know how you can treat someone you care about this way."

He was tired, a bit hung over, totally absorbed in the technology, and later blamed his loose tongue on that fact. "Who said I cared about her?"

"Mr. Stark!"

He spun in the chair, his voice more harsh than usual. "Listen to me, Miss Potts. If you went to a gym, and wanted to play racquetball, and found someone who looked like they were good at it, and had a good game… would you really feel the need to spend the next day with them?"

Her jaw dropped. "It's hardly the same –"

"It is for me."

"Well – it _shouldn't_ be." Here blue eyes flashed sapphire as she stepped closer to him. "You can't just go around ignoring people's feelings –"

"I'm not ignoring anything. You saw her. I'm a notch on the bedpost. A big, platinum plated, diamond crusted notch." He stood to look her in the eye. "They don't want _me_. They want Tony Stark – billionaire, playboy..."

There was a bare pause as she watched what might have been pain fade from his expression. She spoke haltingly. "Well, sure, some of them… but… they can't all be that way."

His eyes darkened dangerously. "If they're not, I'm not bringing them home."

"Tony, that makes no sense! Why shouldn't you find someone who really –"

The volume of his response caught her off guard. "Because I'm _me_, okay? I'm totally absorbed with my work. No one wants to come in second to the job. And ninety-nine percent of my job is _in my head_. Thinking." He tapped his finger, almost angrily, against his forehead. "I'm here _all_ the time."

Her voice seemed even quieter after his outburst. "Did you ever consider there might be someone out there who could love you for who you are?" He gave a condescending little snort of a laugh, but she went on. "Someone who would understand, who might make you _want_ to get out of your head from time to time?"

He looked past her, the realization of how much he had said finally hitting him, leaving him feeling a little exposed. His response was tinged with sarcasm. "Well, Pep, if you meet her, by all means, give her my number." His gaze returned to her eyes, and he motioned toward himself with his hands. "But I doubt that any woman worth having deserves living with _this_."

He turned back to the keyboard, physically removing himself from the interlude. In the five or so years she had been working for him, they had occasionally spoken frankly before - but never quite like this. It was stirring up too many feelings… and for now, he was happy to retreat into the cool, logical, creative world of his technology. It was a few moments before he heard her voice, and realized she was still standing there.

"Will that be all, Mr. Stark?"

"That will be all, Miss Potts."

* * *

oOo

oOoOo

oOo

* * *

…_please feed the author…_


	4. Just A Job: Ginny

Sometimes you go on vacation for a few days and you have a notebook with you and you find that there's a story to write... We're getting into the later years, now. Thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed - I'm glad you've liked my fics so far, and hope you continue to.

* * *

oOo

_**JUST A JOB: Ginny **_

oOo

* * *

"Sir, there's someone at the door."

Tony didn't even look up from the engine block.

"Not expecting anyone. Send 'em away. Give me an exploded view of the carb." He glanced at the nearby screen and watched as the schematic expanded. "Nice. No wonder."

"I tried, Sir. He seems rather insistent."

Tony tossed a wrench down in exasperation and picked up another. "Call security."

Miss Potts, who was walking back into the workshop after changing, frowned as she put in her earrings. "Who are you calling security on, now?"

"Some idiot," he replied, his attention still riveted on his work.

Jarvis, as usual, spoke more rationally. "A visitor, miss. He claims a 'Ginny' told him to pick her up here."

Pepper blushed to her roots. "Oh, no. Jarvis, don't call security, tell him I'll be right up!"

Tony finally lifted his head, frowning. "_Ginny_?"

She rolled her eyes. "Goodnight, Mr. Stark."

"Miss Potts?"

She stopped, reluctantly, and turned back. "Yes?" His eyes glazed as he saw her.

For a moment, looking at her, he was speechless. When she got to the house that morning she had been wearing tan dress pants and a soft rose blouse; it was her concession to his request for help with the Shelby again, knowing she could easily slip coveralls over the outfit. Having finished up for the day, he had released her to leave only fifteen minutes ago, and now –

"Miss Potts – you look –" he paused, thoughtfully. "Different."

"Different?"

He nodded. "Yes. You've changed."

And indeed, she had. She was now wearing a short, black, just conservative enough to look incredibly sexy cocktail dress. The silhouette nipped in at the waist and hugged her hips, ending high enough to accentuate her long legs while still looking amazingly sophisticated. A sapphire drop necklace sparkled at her collarbone, matching her earrings, and her hair was up in a simple, elegant French twist.

"Yes? Is there a problem? You said I could leave at seven. It's already seven-thirty."

Tony blinked, recovering quickly. "Yes, yes, of course I did. But now I must insist that you wear that outfit to work every day next week. It's different."

She gave him a disparaging look. "Ha, ha."

"What? Different can be good." He stood up from the workbench and walked around her, appraisingly. She stood frozen as he did so, a bit wary of the sudden attention. "So… just who is all this 'different' for?"

She blinked calmly. _Ah. He's going to give me all kinds of grief now, because teasing me about other men is part of what he does._ "I have a date, Mr. Stark. It is customary to dress nicely. I believe you are aware of that."

"Yes. Well. I suppose." He mumbled something quickly and then turned as she started to walk again. "Are you going to ask him in?"

She actually barked a laugh before she looked at him again. "No, no, I don't think that would be very nice."

Tony managed to look a little hurt. "I can be nice."

"Of course you can." Pepper waited a moment. "Can I go n-"

"I think that I should meet him."

"What? Why?"

"Because, as your boss, I think I should approve of who is keeping you out late. It's a job issue. He has to be dependable."

For a moment she stared at him, unbelieving. Then, a small smile unexpectedly touched her lips. "Well, you don't have to worry about that, Mr. Stark. You already approved him."

It was his turn to look surprised. "I did?"

"Yes. He works for you."

His eyes widened. "You're going out with one of the maintenance crew? Dressed like that?"

Her head tipped to the side, and she shook it sadly. "Not that there would be anything wrong with the crew, but no. He works in the legal department, not here at the house."

"I _knew_ I shouldn't let you go to the office alone."

"No, _you_ said I _had_ to go to the office alone, because you were too busy here, and, I believe, 'you couldn't be bothered with such pedestrian nonsense' as dropping off a contract." The little smirk made her eyes sparkle, and he was pretty sure she knew it.

He blinked, looked away, and then back to her. "Oh. Yes."

"Can I go –"

"What does he look like?"

"Oh, come on, now…"

"You're right, I could just look up his files. Jarvis?"

"Stop. You're being ridiculous."

"_I'm_ being ridiculous? You won't even tell me his hair color!"

"Fine." Pepper took a deep breath, and willed herself calm once more. Almost immediately her sensible self started thoughtfully considering the description. "Let's see. He's blond, blue eyes, broad shoulders, about six three –"

"Seriously? He sounds like a Ken doll. What's his name?"

She looked away. It really wasn't fair. He could tease her no end about any dates she had – which these days, were few and far between – but heaven forbid she make a crack about any of _his_ liaisons. She looked back to him, her lips a tight line. "His name is… Ken."

Tony's eyes widened, incredulous. "What?"

"Ken. His name, actually," she sighed, "… is actually Ken."

His mouth twitched. "Ah. Well, you know the problem with Ken dolls, besides the whole bad hair thing. I understand that they're woefully lacking in certain… ah… areas."

"Good night, Mr. Stark." She turned on her heel and walked upstairs, leaving him grinning evilly in the workroom behind her.

* * *

oOo

* * *

It was three months later.

Tony looked at his personal assistant, and shook his head. "I don't know about this, _Ginny_."

Pepper rolled her eyes. She never liked it when he called her that. It never felt right. "Jarvis, please remind Mr. Stark what he said about me taking the weekend off."

"Certainly, Miss Potts. Would you like the whole conversation, or merely his acquiescence?"

She continued to glare at her boss as she spoke. "Give him whatever will convince him that he agreed, two _weeks_ ago, to me taking this weekend off."

"Unnecessary, Jarvis." He spoke more quietly as he leaned toward his assistant. "I just don't understand why you have to go _right now_."

She swore under her breath. "There's never a good time! I _need_ time off. Normal people need time off! I haven't taken more than a day in six months!"

He drew back his head slightly. "Is it the money? I can give you a raise, if that's the problem."

Pepper stared into his dark eyes, and realized that he was serious. "Mr. Stark…" she sighed, shaking her head and looking down for a moment. "It is not a matter of my pay scale. You pay me well."

"I thought I did."

"You do. And I appreciate that. But I'm only human. I need time off." She frowned at him. "Why is it so hard for you to understand this time? There's nothing really important going on this weekend. Last year I took two weeks around this time, and it was fine. As I recall, you went to Monaco without me and managed just fine."

"Yes, well…"

_So what's really going on?_ She wanted to say it so badly it almost came out despite her clamped lips. His eyes moved away from her, looking at the wall, the floor… almost sad… and suddenly she had a thought. But she wasn't going to say it, not to her boss, not on her life. _Besides, that would be ridiculous…_ Instead, she said softly, "You did agree, Mr. Stark. I've made plans."

Tony tapped the envelope he was holding against his hand. "Yes. Clearly I did. You win. Have a good time." He turned and walked away toward his bedroom to change out of his suit, which suddenly felt uncomfortably warm.

She watched him walk away, feeling like she hadn't really won anything. "Jarvis?" she said quietly.

"Yes, Miss Potts?"

"Does Mr. Stark know I'm going to be with Ken this weekend?"

There was a pause. "I don't believe I have that information, although it's possible, as according to my records, he was in the room when you were discussing it in a phone call."

"Right." She shook her head, and returned to business mode. "Listen, Jarvis, I'm not sure how far out of roaming we'll be in the mountains. Update the software in my phone, please?"

"My pleasure."

* * *

oOo

* * *

"Good morning, sir."

"Is it morning?"

"It's an acceptable greeting for past midnight, sir. Technically it _is_ Monday, although I admit the day is quite young."

Anthony Stark had arrived at his Malibu home shortly after one in the morning. The surfboarding competition off the Fiji coast had been a riot – lots of exercise, lots of groupies - and was nearly enough to keep his mind off anything else that might be happening this weekend.

_Who are you kidding, Stark? She's beautiful, talented, smart – I'm sure she wants a family someday. What if this guy is the one? The one that takes her away from you?_

He stopped at the bar, grabbed a glass and automatically, almost angrily, poured himself a scotch. _She's not mine to take away. _

Still in his long-sleeved dark t-shirt and workout pants from the trip, he began to wander aimlessly through the space he called home, thinking about how she had been here from the beginning. How she had helped mold the space, sometimes without even knowing how much her input could influence him.

Over the years, he had suggested she move into the large guest suite that she often used; she had respectfully declined. He had pointed out the convenience factor of having his PA so close 24/7; she had pointed out the inconvenience of having her boss down the hall 24/7. He suggested it was practical; she suggested that living in the same house as her boss was less than proper, even after he pointed out that the house was large enough that they could both live there for days without seeing each other.

He had been adamant; she had stood firm. He offered to build her a small house on the cliff attached by tunnel and bridge to the main house; she had rolled her eyes and asked if he was deliberately missing the point.

In the end she took a condo in Malibu, not close enough for him, not far enough for her. Stark Industries bought it as part of her salary. It was a compromise, and it seemed to be working. She could drive to the main house in less than 10 minutes – and Tony never mentioned that he made sure a helicopter could land on the roof of her building before he agreed to anything. Just in case.

Still, he thought, as he absently wandered the halls of his mammoth home; she usually slept here a couple nights a week anyway, if he was in the middle of a project or it just got late. It had become her unofficial second home, heavy on the _un_. He glanced down toward the guest suite and sipped his drink. _I wonder if I should spruce this place up a bit. Just to make sure she knows I appreciate her work._

He looked into the bedroom and nodded. Even though she was often there, it hardly seemed like anyone _really_ lived there. Tony nodded, sipping again. _A new version always makes things better. _ _A few of the art pieces she likes that I put in storage… some new stuff._ He tried to think it out, but knew that this was exactly the kind of job he would usually pass off to… his personal assistant. _Maybe that really would be the best way to do it. Just tell her to do it up however she wants._

Thoughtfully, he walked past the bedroom to the mini kitchen. He wasn't too worried about her kitchen; she normally used the big one if she wanted anything. And just beyond was the guest living room_. That might need work. I haven't been in there in ages. _ He heard a strange little sound, and frowning, took a few steps in. His mind was only half on what he was doing, the rest still wondering about what he would do if she wanted to leave.

_It would certainly suck to have to train someone new for the PA position. _

He exhaled a laugh at himself for that comment. "Lights." Something was on the sectional sofa.

_Train someone? You really think you could find another -_

"Pepper?"

"Jarvis! Turn them down!"

The lights dimmed to a bare glow, but not before Tony had seen her. Pepper Potts, in jeans and a baggy sweatshirt, her eyes red, her face wet with tears. He felt uneasy immediately.

"Ah… Miss Potts? Are you –"

"Just go away. Please." She sniffed, grabbed another tissue, and waved her arm at him. "Go."

He stayed. He even moved closer. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Nothing happened. I'm fine. It's all fine…" and she started to sob again. "Just terribly, terribly fine. That's what I am. Fine."

Tony's eyes widened in the dim light. He had never seen her like this. Sure, she had been teary once or twice over the years in front of him, but he'd never seen this kind of total break in her shields. He cautiously walked to the couch and stood over her.

For a few minutes they stayed that way, him standing and feeling helpless, her sobbing and hiding her face in her hands. His analytical brain tried desperately to figure out what was going on, as if she were a piece of malfunctioning equipment.

"Did something happen with Ken?"

She didn't respond, but a whimpering sob escaped. Tony's dark eyes grew instantly hard.

"Did he do something? So help me, Pepper, if he hurt you –"

"No!" She waved an arm at him again. "No. It was nothing like that. No." With an act of will she managed to glance up at him, seeing his clenched fists in the dim light. "No. But… thank you." The idea that he was ready to defend her honor somehow gave her a little warm feeling. His fists unclenched and clenched again tensely.

"Then what happened?"

Pepper took a shuddery breath and blew it out slowly. "Nothing."

"Come on," he whispered softly as he sat down near her. "You don't do this. What's going on?"

Maybe it was the dark that made it easier to talk. Maybe it was just that she was so tired, and overwhelmed by frustration. "It's just…"

"Yes?" He waited a moment, then added, softly, "It's okay, you know. I won't say anything."

"Fat chance," she responded automatically, and then began to giggle through her tears. He smiled with her until the giggles wore themselves out, and patted her shoulder companionably.

"So?"

She wiped her nose, pulled the sleeve of her baggy sweatshirt across her eyes, and slumped back into the cushions with a sigh. "I just… wish it was different."

"Okay." He frowned, clueless, but waited.

"I mean… Ken's a nice guy. He really is. And we had fun when we went out."

"Okay."

"And even so, sometimes it just felt… weird."

"_Weird_?"

"Yeah. And I really hoped this weekend would give me time to relax and get out of my head a little, and really enjoy being together… but…" she took a deep breath, exhaled slowly. "It was still weird."

"Not even distracting?" He knew that comparing her social engagements to his own was probably a bad idea, but he was really trying to understand.

She shook her head. "No, because I just kept thinking, 'this is weird'. I mean, here's this really nice guy, he really likes me, he wants me to be around, he's smart, and handsome, and talented… and we're in this beautiful mountain cabin with this beautiful view, and he kisses me good morning… and all I can think is _this is so weird_." She sniffed again, and her voice cracked. "What's _wrong_ with me?"

He had been so distracted by the 'good morning' that he was taken by surprise by her question. "You? Wrong with you? Nothing. Nothing's wrong with you. You're perfect."

"And I don't even like being called Ginny anymore. I was Ginny for a long time, and now... I don't even know who she is." She opened her hands and looked skyward. "Here's this great guy, and when he calls me by my name, I feel like he doesn't know who I am, either."

"You could tell him to call you 'Miss Potts'."

Pepper dropped her head to her shoulder and gave him an exasperated, albeit teary, look. "I'm serious."

"Me too," he mumbled. They sat for a moment, and he said, "Listen, sometimes your heart just knows if something isn't right. More than your head. I know I sometimes do things by instinct when it comes to figuring out new technology… " He waved the statement away, feeling like he wasn't saying things the way he wanted to, but she was nodding thoughtfully. "Sometimes, it just doesn't work. Even if you want it to."

His eyes were shadowed in the dim light, and she looked into a face that was planes of varying darkness. "I guess I know that. It's just that I don't have a lot of time to get together with people… I guess every chance feels like it might be my last."

"No."

"No?"

"Nope. You've got lots of chances, still. And someday you'll find someone who deserves you."

Pepper bit her lip. She could hear the sincerity in his statement, and her eyes filled again. She whispered, "Thank you."

He patted her shoulder. "No problem. Whoever it is, though, better be able to hold your briefcase, because I'll still need you around here…" Even in the dim she could see his smirk, and she smiled back at him gratefully. Her expression gave him a sudden, uneasy feeling, and he began to stand. "I should get going –"

Her hand on his arm stopped him. "Could you stay? Would you mind?" She took a breath, clearly stronger but still unsteady. "I… I just don't want to be alone right now."

Tony thought for a moment, then sat back into the couch. "Sure. " They sat awkwardly silent for a while. Then he put up an arm along the back of the couch, and invited her in. "Come on."

Pepper hesitated for a few seconds, then shrugged and moved so she could lean on him, his arm closing around her shoulders. For a long while she rested there, sniffing occasionally, as the emotions tried to settle in her chest.

"Try not to get this shirt too wet, okay? It's new."

She giggled, and a few tears escaped. After a few minutes she closed her eyes, and spoke very softly. "Thank you, Tony. You're a good friend." A few minutes later he felt her relax against his chest, and her breathing became more steady.

"Anytime, Pepper." He looked down on the top of her head, and tightened his grasp around her shoulders. "Anytime."

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…_please feed the author…_


	5. Just A Job: Going Green

_Just so that I don't forget there's more to this than the two of them… a little plot, leading toward the first movie? Perhaps? Thanks to all who read, double double thanks to those who take the time to leave a review…_

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_**Just A Job: Going Green**_

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Pepper frowned at her laptop. _These reports are ridiculous…_ They made little sense – which surprised her, since she was getting pretty good at reading past the governmental subterfuge at this point.

As far as she could tell, experimental equipment of Stark Industries that had been used in a lab had been destroyed by something – and here the reports became rather hazy, in a way that she had come to associate with the military – but these were _especially_ vague.

"Do you know anything about this?" There was no response. "Mr. Stark?" She looked up after a moment, and realized he had snuck back down to his workshop while she was trying to catch him up on business. Rolling her eyes with a weary sigh, she picked up the laptop and headed for the stairs.

Several of the board of directors had begun to complain, more loudly but _ever_ so politely, that young Anthony Stark was available to answer questions at the office - well, ahem, could be, almost _never_. He managed to make the occasional meeting, but always seemed to be in the middle of some project at the house. Some of them were beginning to call it 'Stark Industries 2', or just SI2 for short.

It was, however, difficult for management to get _really_ upset with him for two reasons; one: it was, after all, his name on the building, and two: whenever he _did_ show up after a prolonged absence, he had some amazing idea or prototype that made them millions of dollars. It still made for a lot of interoffice drama, and Pepper was all too often the one buffering the tension.

The only person who seemed to have no problem with Tony's work habits was Obadiah Stane. He was constantly defending him to the board, often quoted as saying, 'The kid's a genius. Let him work at home if that's what works for him,' and Tony, for his part, was always grateful for his support. After all, after his parents died, Obadiah became more like a surrogate father than just a high-level employee holding the company reins until the young heir was old enough.

Pepper frowned as she got to the bottom of the stairs, and reached up to key in her code on the transparent wall. There was something about Obadiah Stane that made her uneasy. He was just a little too smooth, a little too unbelievable for her. _I mean, Tony makes everyone crazy at some point, but he just seems -_

All thoughts of the office, however, swiftly drifted from her head as she looked through the wall, seeing her boss balanced precariously on top of a stool that was on top of a chair. One of his working robots was nearby, bracing the ungainly support. She tried not to make any sudden noises as she quickly keyed in.

"Mr. Stark?" Her voice was soft but concerned, not wanting to startle him and have the whole pile come tumbling down. She should have known better.

He barely glanced away from the mechanism he was installing, completely unfazed. "What?"

"I was just –" she stopped, her curiosity getting the best of her as she watched him thread a cable through the ceiling and then hold the trailing end down toward the robot. "What are you doing?"

"Rewiring. New stuff. This is going to be amazing. Dummy, hold this." The robot released the stool to take the cable, and immediately the inventor's precarious perch began to shift.

"Careful!" She dashed forward as he yelled again to the robot.

"Dummy! Grab the stool again. Potts, grab this cable."

They managed, between the three of them, to stabilize things enough for him to finish wiring the small device into the corner of the ceiling and wall, and then jump down. She handed the other end of the cable back to him. "Have you ever considered inventing a ladder?"

"Droll, Miss Potts, very droll. Here." He stared at the cable for a moment and handed it back to her again as he moved down the wall, checking his work.

"Are those cameras? I thought Jarvis had all he needed."

"Not cameras. Projectors. Wait till you see this." He stopped for a bare second and stared at her, radiating innocent seriousness. "I really am quite amazing, you know. You should feel honored to hold my cable."

"Of course you are, and of course I am." Pepper took a deep breath, trying to keep a smile from breaking through her deadpan expression. There was nothing quite like Tony Stark on fire for a new project. He was unstoppable. And sometimes, absolutely impossible. "I'm glad it's going well." _Whatever it is._ "Did you read this report?"

"Which report, and probably not. Why do you think I have you? Just to make the place look snazzy?"

She gave him a disparaging look, which he completely ignored as he fished the cable through a conduit and plugged it in. "Fine. Then do you remember a radiation study that you designed and made the –" she frowned, opened her laptop and tapped the screen. "Something called the GRS85 for?" Her lips pursed. "Probably a Mark XXVII?"

Tony didn't even look up this time, only mumbled as he adjusted a projector, moved over to his workbench and punched in some code. "Jarvis, plug 'er in."

"Doing it now, sir."

Stark grinned gleefully, and nodded at the screen as the upload began. Estimating two minutes and fifty-six seconds of waiting, he allowed himself to look back to Pepper. "The supermassive radiation shielding for the gamma five generator. Plus a few projection units that I loaned them indefinitely. A couple years back. Why?"

She looked at him in amazement for just a moment. She was quite sure that if asked, he could quote every technical specification for the entire project from memory. Just don't ask him what time he was supposed to meet his accountant, or if he ate breakfast. "Well, I _just_ got this report in, and evidently some time ago – wait a minute." She frowned at the screen again, scrolled back, checked a cover document and shook her head. "Okay, now that's just weird."

"What?"

She began reading. "Evidently _sixteen months_ ago there was an 'incident' at the lab, and some of our equipment was destroyed. There's a payment here, a rather generous one, and what looks suspiciously like a cover story."

"My projectors got fried? Damn. Well, as long as they paid us." He grinned. "They're eight models behind by now anyway." He glanced up at the devices he was installing with a grin, and leaned over to check the monitor as she spoke again, mulling over the fuzzy details in the report.

"It says the project was being run by a Dr. Bruce Banner."

"Yeah, I –" Tony stopped what he was doing. "Banner. That's right. I haven't heard anything about his work in at least… must be two years. He used to publish in the journals pretty regularly."

"Oh?"

"The guy's brilliant. I mean, he's almost as smart as I am…"

Ignoring him, she flipped through the pages onscreen, and shook her head. "Nothing since the accident."

Tony frowned. "Was anyone hurt during this 'accident?'"

"It doesn't say."

He shook his head. "That is weird. Or governmental. Jarvis – what do you have on Doctor Bruce Banner?"

There was a discreet pause. "Actually, sir, there doesn't seem to be any information at all about him available after the lab incident."

"Really?" Stark frowned again. "That's odd. He was practically a columnist for the Journal of International Physics…

"Shall I check _alternate_ sources, sir?"

Tony nodded as he turned his chair slowly back to his workstation monitor. "Yeah…try through the GRS platform. But take your time. No fingerprints."

"Of course, sir."

Pepper frowned at him. "Alternate sources?"

"Yeah. Don't worry about it. What else do you have?"

She stared at him. "Mr. Stark –"

He didn't look away from the monitor. "What?"

Pepper had closed her laptop, and held it to her chest. "Mr. Stark…"

He glanced over at her, his tone mimicking her officially concerned tone perfectly. "Miss Potts…"

Her head dropped to her shoulder. "I don't know if this is a good time, business-wise, to do anything that might be construed as illegal, or –"

"Thank you, Miss Potts, I'll take that under consideration."

"It's just that the board –"

"I _said_, thank you, Miss Potts." He looked up at her, his dark eyes suddenly hard.

Pepper opened her mouth, closed it. Dropping her eyes for a moment, she bit her lower lip thoughtfully. It wasn't often these days that her boss looked at her with anger in his eyes, and she had worked for him for enough years to know that his anger, when it did appear, was usually not directed at her. She tried not to react to the intensity she felt radiating from him and also tried, for the moment, to put aside her concern for the board of directors. There was something else going on.

All these thoughts took place in the blink of an eye, and when she looked up again, his gaze was still harsh, but her blue eyes were soft with care.

"Did - _do_ you know him, Tony?"

The combination of her gentle tone, along with her obvious concern for his well being, went though him like a shot and warmed him just as much. His focus as he exhaled a deep breath went toward the projection devices he had been working on installing all night before returning to her.

"No. We've never met. I've read a lot of his work, though… most of the time he was subsidized by the government. I know things happen." He paused a moment, clearly thinking of another time, and stories of governmental experiments he heard snatches of from his father. Back then they had been exciting to listen to, hiding out in a corner of the lab… but as an adult, the things he remembered sometimes gave him nightmares. "Everyone needs someone to hope they're all right, to make sure that they get back alive…"

Pepper watched him for a moment, and then nodded. "I can see that. Just… please. Be careful."

He looked up from the monitor to her again. "Don't worry. Jarvis knows what he's doing."

She took a deep breath and exhaled quickly. "I hope so." With a little frown, she added, "I know I shouldn't ask, but how –"

Tony grinned at her, and his dark eyes were suddenly warm again, and full of smug mischief. "Hey, if Anthony Stark loans you prototype laser projection units for free… you might want to check for worms before you hook them into your computer system."

Her eyes widened. "Tony! Isn't that illegal? I mean…"

"I consider it research. Beta testing. I need to know what else they could be used for." He checked a few numbers on the monitor, and shrugged restlessly. "And sometimes, I need a back door for information. It's hard to always be this brilliant." He glanced at the time. "You hungry? Want to get some food? Jarvis has some work to do before I can show you this."

Pepper grinned at him. "When did you last eat?"

He stood and tilted his head at her. "Depends. What day is it?"

Shaking her head, she followed him up the stairs to the kitchen.

* * *

oOo

* * *

In a quiet hallway of Stark Industries, Obadiah Stane shifted his cigar, looking at the same report as he towered over the clerk who brought it to him. "Who did you say opened this?"

The clerk, a young computer specialist in his twenties, adjusted his tie and swallowed hard. "Mr. Stark did, Mr. Stane."

"He picked it up personally? He was _here_?"

The younger man glanced at the file, checking the sign out ID. "No, that would have been Miss Potts."

"Hmh," the man grunted as he turned to walk away. "Listen. Next time you make sure to clear with me what she gets access to. Got it?"

"Yes, sir, but –"

Stane rounded on him. "But what?"

The clerk blanched. "She has all the clearance that Mr. Stark does…"

"Well, then." Obadiah leaned closer, close enough that the clerk could smell the stale cigar smoke on his breath. "Just make sure I know what _either_ of them are looking at. All right? This is no big deal. An industrial accident. But Mr. Stark doesn't need to worry about small stuff like this."

"Yes, sir." The clerk escaped quickly down the hall, and Obadiah stared after him, chewing on his unlit cigar.

_Looks like I'll have to move some files to more secure storage. _He looked thoughtful, then laughed quietly_. Who am I kidding? As long as the kid stays busy, he'll never even think to look._

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They walked back down to the workshop, Pepper sipping from a bottle of water, Tony finishing the last of a folded slice of pizza. He keyed them in, and then went directly to the computer monitor on his bench, wiping his hands on his t-shirt before touching the keyboard. When the monitor sprang to life, he gave a smug laugh.

"Okay. Wait till you see this." Hitting a few keys, he walked over and stood next to Pepper. "You ready?"

She couldn't help but smile. "This better be good, after all this buildup."

"Trust me."

Their eyes met for a long moment, and she forced a laugh as she looked away. There was something so captivating about his eyes when he was excited. _I wonder what they're like…_

"Okay. Jarvis, give me the drawings for the Jericho project on the wall screens."

"Yes, sir."

The transparent walls came to life with intricate line drawings of his latest missile development. Pepper stared at the wall, studied it for a moment, before turning to him with the slightest of frowns. "I've seen this already." While the transparent screens were impressive, she had grown accustomed to them in the year since he installed them.

"Yes," he said, his eyebrows lifting, "but have you seen _this_? Jarvis, give me the full projection."

"Central locus, sir?"

Tony grinned. "Yeah."

Pepper stared. There were suddenly fine green lines tracing three dimensional outlines in the middle of the room. Outlines of the missile project, with full details, in thin air.

Stark glanced over at her. "What do you think about that, Miss Potts?"

"This is impressive, Mr. Stark. Really impressive. I had no idea –"

He looked at her again, and frowned. "But _you're_ not impressed."

"Of course I am! It's just that…"

"What?"

"I guess I'm getting used to you doing amazing things, that's all."

His eyes narrowed slightly. "Oh, really…" She shrugged. "I thought as much. Jarvis. Dim the lights and run Starlight."

There was a soft beep as the lights dimmed, and Pepper had to gasp. "Oh…"

In the dark, they were suddenly surrounded by an entire universe of stars, planets, nebulae… all traced in glowing green, spinning gently through the cosmos. It was as if they were giants, walking through the galaxy. The stars spun around her and she felt dizzy – and he must have known that would happen because he was at her side, a hand on her elbow gently steadying her. A touch of justified pride rang in his voice. "So? What do you think of this, then, if missile schematics don't impress you?"

"Oh, Tony…" her breathless response thrilled him in a way he couldn't quite describe. "This is beautiful."

He pulled her gently backwards until they got to his workbench, and sat on the edge of it as they watched the display moving slowly around them.

She exhaled a sigh. "I feel like I could touch one. They look so real…"

"Oh, you'd like that, would you? Would you like a star?"

Her eyebrows lifted as she turned to look at him. Even in the dim light, his eyes were sparkling. For a moment he held her gaze, then turned and reached out his hand toward the nearest star, that seemed to float in the dark. Cupping his hand around it, he pulled it closer, as if it were, indeed, a solid thing. It nestled in his hand, glowing brightly as he brought it to her. "Would you like to hold it?"

Her eyes were shining with wonder, and her voice failed her as she nodded.

"Jarvis. Recognize Miss Potts." He spoke more softly to her. "Now hold out your hand."

She did, and he noticed her hand trembled slightly. Carefully he moved his hand closer to hers, and placed the star he held on her palm. It turned and sparkled as if she were the center of the universe. "Oh, Tony…" She slowly moved her hand closer to her face, and the star came with it, making her eyes twinkle. "What do I do now?"

He barely smirked. "Toss it up."

With only a moment's hesitation, she motioned to toss the star up – and it broke into a thousand shards, each one sparkling like fireworks. Her sudden giggle broke the silence, and the look in her eyes as she turned to him - excited as a child at Christmas - wormed its way into his well-guarded heart. He found himself whispering. "What do you think?"

Pepper shook her head. "I love it."

Their eyes met for a long, falling moment until he caught himself, nodded a grin at her, and took a breath. "Jarvis. End demo." The lights came up slowly, and the boss and his personal assistant realized they weren't sitting in the night under the stars, they were sitting on a workbench in his shop. Both of them straightened up a bit, feeling, for the moment, unsure of what was real and what was just a very realistic projection.

Tony stepped away first, moving to the computer monitor. "I'm working on colors, next. More than green, I mean. Green is the easiest."

Behind him, Pepper fanned her face and pushed back her bangs. "That will be nice. And efficient. For schematics. And things." She rolled her eyes at herself. "I guess I'll be heading out, then."

Stark nodded, not looking away from his monitor. "Goodnight, Miss Potts."

"Goodnight, Mr. Stark. Thank you."

He avoided looking up until he was sure she was gone.

"Was the demonstration satisfactory, sir?"

A heavy sigh answered. "More than satisfactory, Jarvis. More than satisfactory." He took a deep breath. "Okay. Let's get the calibration for the east wall down. It was a little off..."

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Outside, as she walked to her car, Pepper Potts found the stars overhead felt less genuine than the ones she had so recently seen in the workshop while sitting so very close to her boss. For the life of her she couldn't figure out why, without him there, they seemed so much less _real_.

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…_please feed the author…_


	6. Just A Job: Figure of a Father

_As of the last chapter, we are now about eight years, more or less, into the tenure of Miss Potts as she works for Mr. Stark. My assumption from the timelines is that she worked for him for about ten, maybe eleven years before the first movie. I'm trying to weave my ends into the tendrils of the first movie script…  
_

_Thanks to all who read, even more thanks to those who take the time to leave a review…_

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_**Just A Job: The Figure of A Father**_

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Tony sat back from his computer and stared blindly into the ceiling of his workshop, waiting for inspiration.

The guidance system on the Jericho project – which revolved around a ridiculously complicated algorithm for station-keeping the second-stage missile array – was giving him just enough trouble to keep him interested. And since Obadiah told the board there'd be a working hypothesis by Friday, he had been working non-stop. It was almost as if Stane knew that only a challenge would get him going.

But it wasn't just the challenge of a deadline. It was the thrill of riding the edge of the unknown, of finding something he didn't understand, and making it _his_. One of the reasons he was constantly upgrading his computers, his equipment, his cars… was that if it was easy, if it made sense to anyone else, then it was _too_ simple. He needed that push, that complication, to surf on that dangerous edge of understanding… and he knew, with the Jericho project, he was nearly there. He was on the verge of creating a system too complex to exist. Something _no one else_ could do._ So close._

As usual, when he reached a point like this, he had to let his conscious mind wander so that his instincts, his subconscious, could figure out what he needed to do and hand him the solution full blown. There were only a few things that let his mind wander, but he didn't have time right now to go find some interested woman. This would have to be simple. Tossing a stylus onto the workbench, he rose gracefully and trotted upstairs. It was as good a time as any for food. Or drink. Or both.

"Jarvis."

"Yes, Mr. Stark?"

"Time?"

"It is eight twenty-six in the morning, sir." There was a pause. "You have been in the workshop since midnight."

Tony's eyebrows lifted and his lips pursed slightly as he gave himself a 'not bad' kind of look.

"Will you be retiring now, sir? I can -"

"Not yet. Obie wants me to be able to prove the guidance system will work for the board meeting Friday. I want an onscreen demo ready."

"Excuse me for saying so, sir, but won't that require actually _having_ the programming for a guidance system online to test?"

"No. Yeah. Well, at least having the concept down."

"But currently, the proposed system –"

Tony cut him off. "I know."

There was a pause. "Keep in mind that unlike me, you do need your rest, sir."

Opening the fridge, Tony grabbed a carton of blueberry yogurt and shook it violently before opening it and gulping half of it down. "I'll take a nap this afternoon. Where's Pepper?"

"Miss Potts arrived at seven and is in her office suite, negotiating terms with the Air Force."

His eyes rolled as he finished off the yogurt and picked up an apple, polishing it absently on his chest before taking a bite. "What do they want?"

"Evidently, sir, Hammer Industries is working on a new body armor, and they're wondering-"

"Great." Tony took a deep breath and stared at some old boxes that had been brought over to the house from his father's office storage at Stark Industries. He mumbled quietly. "Still trying to make a super soldier. They'll never learn."

"I beg your pardon, sir?"

"Nothing."

"Mr. Stark?" He looked up, momentarily distracted, to see Pepper Potts walk into the living room from the direction of her office at the house. It was originally the kitchenette of the guest suite that became hers, but once Tony realized that she was more likely to be comfortable staying in 'an office' than a 'guest room', it was quickly remodeled. She was wearing a suspicious grin.

"Miss Potts?"

"Good morning." The grin became a smile as she perused the notes on her clipboard.

He frowned slightly. "What's got you so cheerful? Not that I mind, but –"

"The Air Force is sending over their new weapons development liaison this afternoon around two."

"Terrific. Just what I need right now."

"You'll be here?"

"I may be here in body, but not necessarily in mind. It's been a long night."

She glanced up from her notes and took a good look at him for the first time. He was clearly exhausted, although she could tell from the brightness of his eyes that he was in the middle of a project. She sighed, her blue eyes darkening. "Have you slept at all?"

"Of course I have. I'm an adult. I sleep often. Sometimes, even all by myself."

Pepper rolled her eyes. "I meant, have you slept lately – but never mind. I know when you won't give a straight answer that you haven't."

He narrowly avoided giving her an amused smirk. "I've got to finish this presentation project. You can handle the Air Force."

Her head dropped to one side as he turned to walk back down to the workshop and bit her lip as she pretended to give in. "Well, okay, but he says he knows you…"

Stopping, he twisted back to look at her. "Who?"

"The new Air Force liaison." Her eyes sparkled. "A colonel. One James Rhodes."

A day without sleep dropped from him like a heavy coat. "Rhodey? Get out. He's back from deployment?"

"He is."

"And _he's_ the new liaison officer?"

"He is." Her grin blossomed into a smile, which was echoed in his eyes.

"Rhodey. Wow. That's great." He looked thoughtful for a moment, and then nodded. "I _am_ going to need a nap."

* * *

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* * *

Eight hours later, Pepper was attempting to finish typing the outline of the proposal to the Air Force as Tony and Rhodey talked loudly and laughed even louder. The smell of bourbon was in the air, and she shook her head as Tony offered to fill her glass for the fifth time. For the fifth time, with an amused smile, she declined.

"Come on, Pep. You're off the clock."

"Ah, technically, no."

"You are if I say so. I am your boss, you know."

"Yes, Mr. Stark, you make that inescapably clear."

"Well, then?"

She looked up from where she was sitting into brown eyes that were shining happily. _More happy than I've seen him in weeks_. She wondered, not for the first time, if Rhodey was the only real friend he had. "Perhaps later, Mr. Stark."

He attempted to pout, which succeeded in making her laugh quietly. "Fine." He leaned over to look her in the eye, alcohol making him just a bit less cautious than he might have been. "But later, yes?"

Their eyes met, and the close range made her tingle. She gave him an indulgent smile, speaking as if he were a precocious toddler. "Later. Yes."

"Excellent." With a wobbling turn worthy of Jack Sparrow, he spun back to face Rhodey, not spilling a drop of bourbon. "So, Rhodes-man. Tell me more about this project."

Colonel Rhodes frowned. "It's the same old one, Tony. Hammer says he can develop some kind of power assisted one man vehicle in the next ten years."

"Hammer's milking that again? What's this, the fourth time this decade? They're just trying to keep the pentagon's attention. And he says ten years? That's safe enough." He sipped his drink. "Of course, maybe not, for him…"

The colonel shook his head. "Look, Tony – I'm just saying that the government is interested in that kind of thing. So maybe you should –"

"I have no interest in messing with body chemistry." He glanced toward the windows, thinking of another time and place, overhearing things half-understood in his father's lab.

"Yeah, but this isn't changing the man. It's giving him better equipment –"

Stark snorted before drinking the rest of his bourbon, rattling the ice as he walked back to the bar. "Right. It's more of what, a one-man walking tank? How's he going to deal with power consumption? He doesn't have a clue."

Pepper sighed as she listened to the fourth round of this particular discussion. In a weary, surprisingly maternal voice, she paused in her typing and said, "Maybe you boys should go watch a movie."

They turned and stared at her, as if their mothers had caught them fighting. The looks of sheepish bemusement turned thoughtful. Tony looked at his friend. "Hey – have you seen _The Other Guys_?"

"Oh, yeah… let's watch it." They ambled off to the home theatre, stopping to grab the bottle, and then going back to the bar to grab a second. Pepper shook her head, a relieved grin on her face.

"Hey, Pep?"

Not looking up from her computer, she responded. "Yes, Mr. Stark?"

"Can you order us a pizza? You know, from that place that you found that has the really good –"

She hit 'enter', and looked up. "Already done. It'll be here in half an hour."

Tony stopped and looked at her. Really looked at her. Glancing down the hall at Rhodey, he looked back to her and lifted his glass. "Pepper Potts. What would I do without you?"

Pepper pursed her lips dryly, her eyes sparkling with contained humor. "Starve?"

He beamed at her. "You going to join us?"

"Maybe after I finish this."

He chuckled as he turned away to follow Rhodey, and Pepper stared after him. There was something so vulnerable about him sometimes. She wondered how often he got to play with his friends as a kid. Or what kids could keep up.

* * *

oOo

* * *

A movie, a pizza, and quite a bit more bourbon later, the conversation cycled into its _fifth_ round, this time sitting around in Stark's home theatre.

"You know how I feel about the super soldier idea. I'm having enough of a time keeping the Freedom Line going."

"Well, that's what I'm saying. If you can't get this done, at least throw me a bone to give the Air Force. What about a take on the body armor?"

"Can't be done."

"Yeah, but I bet if _you_ put your mind to it –"

"No. It's the power requirements. What good in combat is assisted body armor that can only run for five minutes?"

Pepper spoke without looking up from her laptop screen. "You could make one with a really long extension cord."

Tony gave her a look and Rhodey chuckled, but a deeper voice rang out in the room, with an angry edge. "This is serious, Potts."

She looked up, shocked. Obadiah Stane had walked in, unannounced. Then she remembered that a slightly drunken Tony had committed Jarvis to silence in the home theatre after the pizza guy came so the movie wouldn't be interrupted again, and had never reset it. She sat in stunned silence as Tony walked over to Stane.

"Hey, Obie, take it easy."

"Tony – it's nonsense like this that's putting us six months behind on the Freedom Line."

Pepper found herself defending her boss, even though she felt helpless to defend herself. "Excuse me, Mr. Stane, but he hasn't had a break in –"

Obadiah rounded on her, radiating barely controlled fury. Or, as Pepper felt when she described it later, menace.

"Excuse _me_, Miss Potts," he said, sarcasm tainting his tone. "But do you have to answer to the board? He does. I don't suppose you care if we get the contract or Hammer gets it – but keep in mind that if the stock drops, perks like cute little personal assistants might have to be eliminated –"

Tony inserted himself smoothly between them in a surprisingly graceful movement. "Hey, Obie. It's okay. I'll have an amazing simulation ready for Friday."

For the first time, Pepper saw something she didn't recognize in her boss's eyes. She wasn't sure if it was respect or fear, but she knew she didn't like it. Somehow, he looked more like a child saying he'd really get his homework done this time.

"Tony, you've got to keep on top of things. You can't have her telling you how to run the business, when you –"

"I know, Obie. It's all good. I've got it." He walked with the CFO to the door, one hand across the older man's back. "Really. It'll be ready. I promise."

"It better be." Stane gave a disdainful look back toward the others before speaking more quietly. "You know I'm counting on you, Tony."

"I know. I won't let you down."

With a strangely warm smile Obadiah put a hand on Tony's shoulder. "I know you won't, son. I'll call you in the morning."

Tony nodded as Obadiah left. When he turned, his glance toward Pepper was fleeting, catching only a vaguely shocked expression before he moved on to Rhodey. "Hey, man, this has been great, but I've got to –"

The colonel, who had stood from the couch when Tony did, remained expressionless. Years of military training kept him from doing or saying several things that he really, really wanted to do and say. "No problem. But I'm gonna crash in the back room, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, that's fine." Tony looked at Pepper, who had followed Rhodey's lead to get a hold of her emotions. She was packing up her laptop and several papers, pointedly not looking at her boss. When she had everything in her bag, she turned and looked just past his left ear, not making eye contact, but radiating stark professionalism.

"Will that be all, Mr. Stark?"

He stared at her for a moment. "Pepper…"

"Yes, Mr. Stark?" She couldn't look at him. But even peripherally, she could see the hurt little-boy expression in his eyes. _I can't stand the way he treats you,_ she screamed in the privacy of her thoughts_. I can't stand how he manipulates you, just because your parents are gone, just because you never settled things peacefully with your father and you're afraid…_ She took a deep breath.

His expression was almost anxious as he looked at his assistant. "He's just worried about me getting this done, Pep… I'm sure he didn't mean to sound…" Tony paused as her eyes turned to his.

Her resolve had weakened at the soft tone of his voice, and she looked at him, really looked at him – but for that brief moment, her gaze was washed with pity_. I feel so sorry for you, Tony Stark…I really do.  
_

They looked into each other's eyes for a long moment, and his expression darkened. "That will be all, Miss Potts." He turned away quickly, heading down to his workshop.

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…_please feed the author…_


	7. Just A Job: Countdown

_Almost up to the edge, now. Don't kid yourselves, I don't think I'll be able to stop when I get there. The movie has plenty of scenes to fill in… many thanks to those who read and review. I do hope you enjoy._

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_**JUST A JOB: Countdown**_

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* * *

Pepper Potts frowned at the news broadcast, and hit 'pause' on the remote. "Did you see this?" There was no answer. "Hey." She looked back toward her office space. "Tony?" Nothing. Without thinking twice she put down the remote, walked down the hall and past her office. She didn't even bother to look in at the door to see if he was working. No point. He'd wandered off again, of course.

They had a deal. Twice a month Tony agreed to sit down with her at the computer and make sure he was up to date on everything… appointments, projects, deadlines. Especially deadlines. Still, as often as possible, he managed to sneak away if she was out of the room or distracted. This time, he wasn't in the workshop, as he normally was. He was standing in the kitchen. "Mr. Stark!"

He spun around, an overfilled sandwich in his hand and his mouth too full to speak. Frowning, he gestured broadly. "Mmmf? Mfnnhg." A few shreds of lettuce and a bit of mustard flew off his sandwich and hit the floor.

"No, that's fine. You're allowed to eat." Pepper grabbed a paper towel and wiped the floor as she spoke. "But there's something I want you to see."

"Wmm?" He grabbed a water bottle and washed down the mouthful. "Where?"

"On the television." She tossed the towel and walked back into the living room, turning on the big screen. "Jarvis, continue what was on the other set."

The screen sprang to life in the middle of the newscaster's sentence. "…and casualties are now into the hundreds. Pentagon officials believe that this small desert town was being used as a testing ground by the terrorist group…" She interrupted the broadcast.

"Pause here." Stepping closer to the screen, she pointed in the background. "Is this…?" Frowning, she seemed to doubt herself for a moment. She looked back to Tony.

He was staring intently at the image. "Zoom, Jarvis. Upper right quadrant." The screen filled with the area Pepper had pointed to.

She looked from his concerned face to the screen. "Is that what I think it is?"

"Yeah."

"So how did they –"

He turned and grabbed his jacket from where it was lying on the couch. "I've got to hit the office." He was down the stairs to the garage without another word, and she saw his Audi take the curved driveway at some speed.

* * *

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* * *

"I need to know what's going on."

The older man sat back and looked vaguely puzzled. "I don't know what you're talking about, Tony. I thought you were doing paperwork today." The fact that the younger Stark was breathing heavily, his eyes intent, made Obadiah Stane a bit nervous – clearly the boy had run all the way upstairs instead of waiting for the executive elevator - but there was no way he was going to show it.

"I'm talking about the insurgent attack that's all over the news reports today."

Stane seemed to exhale a sigh of relief. "Oh, that. Yeah, good reports on the new flak jackets. None of our boys were in the line of fire, but a couple observers said that –"

"I'm not talking about the jackets." Tony looked toward the door of the office, and then stepped closer to the huge desk, speaking through a clenched jaw in a tense whisper. "Obadiah. The terrorists had Stark weapons."

"Oh, I don't think –"

"I saw them, Obie. I _saw_ them. And I want to know, _now_, how did they get them?" His eyes flashed angrily. "Is someone selling under the table?"

Obadiah stood, walking slowly around to the other side of the desk as his expression grew more serious. "Settle down, son. No one is selling to the other side."

"Are you sure?"

Stane draped an arm around Tony's shoulders. "Tony. I'd know. If anyone knew, I'd know. And I'm telling you – those weapons were spoils of war. It's happened a couple times, unfortunately… we supply weapons to some places that don't have as skilled an army as we do… and if they lose a base, they lose the weapons with it. It doesn't happen often. But if you saw our products behind enemy lines – and they weren't blowing up – then they were stolen goods." He patted the younger man on the chest. "It's good that you're keeping your eyes open, son. But don't worry about ethics. I've got that covered."

Tony exhaled, and a weight seemed to lift from him. "Okay. Okay, sorry if I sounded –"

"No, no, it's your name out there. I'm glad to see you so concerned." The older man smiled. "Now. Did you get all the paperwork done?"

Stark rolled his eyes. "No. I wanted to get this cleared up… but I better get back to the house." He took a few steps toward the door, and turned back. "Thanks, Obie. You know how much I appreciate you keeping an eye on things."

"I'm always here for you, kid. Now go crunch numbers."

* * *

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* * *

Tony stared at the paperwork in front of him and rubbed his eyes wearily. The conversation with Pepper after he got back left him feeling exhausted. Pepper seemed to have some kind of bad feeling about Obie - always had - but somehow, defending his mentor to his assistant grated on him this time in a way he didn't quite understand.

With a dramatic sigh he looked up at the monitor, tried vainly to find the connection between the information on the screen and the document in his hand, and shook his head. "This doesn't make any sense." He stared for a while longer, before he realized that he wasn't getting the response he expected. "Miss Potts?" He glanced behind him toward the other desk, where his assistant had been working all morning. She was gone. He spoke louder. "Hey… Pepper?"

Nothing. "Jarvis. Where did she go?"

There was a long pause.

Tony frowned. "Jarvis?"

"Sorry, sir."

"What's going on?"

"I'm afraid a good deal of my processing was occupied elsewhere. To answer your question, Miss Potts is in your workshop."

"Occupied? Occupied with what? And what's she doing down there?" He stood up and stretched before Jarvis had a chance to answer. "Scratch that. Never mind. I'll go find her. Let's not throw all the mystery away." He trotted through the hall to the living room and down the stairs, mumbling the entire way. "…she's the one who told me we had to get those documents finished… then _she_ goes and vanishes…" He stopped short on the landing, shrugged, and rolled his eyes at himself. "Wonder who she learned _that_ from…"

He lifted his hand to the landing door code pad, and paused. Through the small privacy window, he could see the lights in the workshop were down, except for a faint green glow. _She's looking at the Freedom Line plans? Why? She hates that project… _ He opened the door, and was assaulted by his own sound system. In spite of himself, Tony's lips pursed with some amusement.

Whatever she was doing, she was doing it with her favorite soundtrack playing. Loudly. After all these years, he could recognize the main theme from "Beauty and the Beast" in three notes or less, and the rest of the soundtrack in little more.

And not for the first time, some part of his mind wondered just _why_ it was her favorite, and what - or who - she was thinking of when she listened.

As he moved in ghostlike silence down the stairs, he realized it wasn't the missile plans she was looking at. It was the demo program he had written back when he first installed the 3D interactive projectors. _Starlight_. The smirk on his face grew as he realized he was finally going to catch her in the act.

At least five times since he first showed Pepper the program, Tony had come down to the workshop in the middle of the night and found Jarvis was _distracted_, for lack of a better word, with the complex program still running in the background. Tony knew she must be playing with it, but had never actually found her doing it. He stepped up to the clear wall, and looked in, hidden by the darkness and flashing stars. His hand lifted to the keypad, a smug grin on his face, but he stopped as he looked in once more.

Through the wall he could see his personal assistant, on her toes in the dark, trying to grab a star. She tried for one a few times, then dropped her shoulders, turned, and tried for another. Her movements pushed them away, but she couldn't catch one in her hand. He opened the door silently, and between the darkness and the music, slipped into the room without her noticing.

She made an exasperated noise. "Jarvis! Why can't I hold them?"

The voice of the house system nearly sounded exasperated itself. "If you tell me where you would like them to go, Miss Potts, I can easily –"

"No, no! I want to be able to move them myself. Pick them out of the air. Like Tony can. Why can't I?"

Pepper almost jumped out of her skin when a voice in the darkness spoke at her shoulder. "Because you're doing it wrong."

"Ahh!" She spun around and he caught her arms carefully with a laugh, keeping her from falling over, or perhaps hitting him. "Tony! What are you –"

"You're doing it wrong." His deep eyes were shining as he looked at her.

"Oh, for - you scared me half to death! Jarvis, turn up the lights-"

"Jarvis, scratch that. But bring the music down to fifteen." He chuckled quietly at her expression. "What? I like you in starlight. Your eyes catch the light, just so…" He reached up and brushed her bangs back with an unconsciously gentle gesture.

"Mr. Stark –" Pepper stopped, looking at him in the glow of stars he had created as her heart continued to beat a little faster - although it was no longer from being startled. She tried to organize her thoughts. "What do you mean, I'm doing it wrong?"

"I'll show you." He spun her gently, standing behind her now, wrapped his left arm around her narrow waist, and cupped his right hand softly over hers so he could feel her movements. "Reach for a star."

"Mr. Stark… Tony –"

He gestured with their hands. "That one. Go ahead."

She exhaled, took a deep breath, and reached up. His body was pressed against her back, his lips at her ear. The fact that her voice didn't crack when she spoke gave her a small feeling of accomplishment. "Okay. I'm reaching."

"You certainly are." She could hear the amusement in his voice, and something else she couldn't quite identify. "Now try to take it."

"It won't work!" She exclaimed with something beyond exasperation.

"I know. We're going to find out why."

She slumped a bit, but found that it just had the same effect as relaxing back into him, bringing the warmth of his body into closer contact with her own. She tried to focus. "Okay. Okay, I'll just..." She tried to take the star in her hand, and her fingers passed through it ineffectually. "See?"

"Yup. I do." He took his hand away from hers and held it up where she could see. "Hold your hand like this." He cupped his hand in the air. "Like you're grabbing a fat book."

She frowned, and held her hand up next to his, trying to mimic his movement with her smaller, more delicate hand. "Like this?"

"Close." He put his hand over the back of hers once more, and shaped her grasp carefully. She watched, and in a weak moment glanced at his studious expression over her shoulder. The thoughtful passion in his eyes went through her. "Like that. Now try."

"Okay." Pepper took a breath, tried to calm her thoughts, and reached for the star.

"Center your hand around it."

"Like this?"

"Yes." She moved her hand so that the star was in the middle of her grasp. "Okay. Now just turn your hand around it, as if you're holding a tennis ball in your hand, and it's in the center of it…"

"How far? And what direction do I turn it?"

"Any direction. About thirty degrees."

She bit her lip in concentration, and carefully turned her hand. "It doesn't look this complicated when you do it."

He grinned, and she felt the warm exhalation of a laugh in her ear. "Because I designed it to recognize the way I do it naturally. You just have to do it the way I do normally."

"Figures." His hand drew hers away, and as she did so, the star came with it. "Oh! You did it!"

Again, she felt his breath warm on her ear, her neck. "No, _you_ did it. Good work, Potts." He released her hand as she brought the star closer to her face and giggled, releasing it and picking it out of the air again. "Now… do you want to tell me what you're doing with my stars?"

She released the star again and spun to face him, his arm still around her waist – which left them face-to-face in the starlit darkness. "Well…" She blinked at him, and found that he was swaying slightly to the music, and she was unconsciously following his lead. Of course, this song always touched her…

_Barely even friends, then somebody bends, unexpectedly…_

"I, ah… well… I thought that this program could have real educational value."

"Oh?" Something in the starlit atmosphere had them being less careful than usual. He let his other hand rest on her hip, as her star-holding hand dropped to his chest.

"Yes." She swallowed hard, blinked a few times and went on. "I thought that if we did some non-military projects, you wouldn't have to do so many –"

He stopped her. "Wait. You mean try to sell this to universities?"

"Well, I thought…"

"No way. Won't happen. There's not enough money in any university program to afford this. And only a few planetariums that might be interested."

Pepper stopped swaying and tilted her head at him. "Well, I'm sure we could work something –"

He gave a rather indulgent laugh. "Nope. No way. There's no money in it. The board would never go for it."

She managed to step back a bit from him, and confusion shadowed her blue eyes. "The _board_? But… Stark Industries. It's your name up there."

He took half a step back himself. "Yes, and I'm the one responsible for making sure it keeps making money."

Her exasperation leaked out. "Great. Now you sound like Stane."

"Yeah? What's wrong with that? Obadiah kept the company going, he still keeps it going. I can just focus on the projects, put my time in on the things that catch my attention –"

"Like every supermodel you meet." Pepper inhaled quickly after she realized that she had actually said that out loud.

He stopped and stared at her. "Jarvis. Lights."

The lights came up, and they stepped a little farther away from each other. Pepper shook her head, trying to focus. "I'm just saying, Tony - you could be known for something! Something other than–"

"-being a death monger?"

The soundtrack played on.

…_we don't like what we don't understand  
In fact it scares us  
And this monster is mysterious at least_

"I didn't say that." Pepper looked around at the starscape, which was much less attractive in the bright light. "Jarvis. End the program." She walked to the workbench and picked up her clipboard. His voice behind her was harsh.

"You didn't have to say it. I know what they say about me. And I tell you, I'm doing it for –"

She spun back to him, anger fueling her words. "For the money? For the almighty board? For Obadiah Stane? Or just to keep on as a billionaire playboy?"

There was an incredulous ring to his voice. "You think I don't care about the soldiers I'm making weapons to protect?"

_…bring your guns  
Bring your knives  
Save your children and your wives…_

Her red-headed temper got the best of her. "Sometimes, Tony, I don't know _what_ you care about. Other than yourself." She turned and stormed out of the workshop, up the stairs and out the door without looking back. "And get that paperwork done before tomorrow!"

Tony stood and stared after her for a long minute.

…_kill the beast!_

"Jarvis, turn this off. Now!"

The music stopped instantly, leaving Anthony Stark standing alone and silent in his workshop.

After a few moments, Jarvis spoke quietly. "Excuse me, sir…"

"What."

"You asked me to remind you about the award ceremony the day after tomorrow. And the trip for the demonstration of the Jericho project on Thursday. Colonel Rhodes filed the flight plans today."

Tony nodded, distracted. "Yeah. Right. Just what I need right now." He tilted his head thoughtfully, considering the beautiful woman who had just stormed out on him. "Although, maybe getting away for a while _is_ just what I need." Some small, child-like part of him agreed, thinking _Yeah. She'll appreciate me more when I'm gone..._

_..._

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…_please feed the author…_


	8. Just A Job: A Little Something

_I appreciate the responses I've been getting – it means a great deal to this writer, and I thank you. I'm sure it became obvious in the last chapter that we're getting awfully close to the beginning of the cinematic story… and I think I'm going to try to keep going, perhaps to wander around the background of the script for a while. Not sure what's going to happen, but then, I didn't when I started all this! Also, for the first time, this chapter follows directly on the heels of the last one. I hope you enjoy._

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_**JUST A JOB: A Little Something**_

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Colonel James Rhodes walked down into the workshop. It was pretty dim, but he saw his friend hunched over the keyboard at his workbench. "Hey."

"Hey."

"Was that Pepper's car I saw tearing out of here?" Rhodey stood and frowned at Tony's back, waiting for a response that didn't come. He shrugged. "You know, you could offer a guy a drink. Especially if he's giving you some big award tomorrow…"

"Yeah," came the distracted reply. "You know where the bar is."

The Colonel tilted his head and frowned slightly. He was accustomed to the preoccupied inventor, but the first edge of real concern colored his voice. Something was different. "You okay, Stark?"

Tony finished typing and spun in his chair. "Yeah. Fine." He looked up at his friend from where he was sitting, stared for a moment, and stood abruptly. He walked over to the wall, climbed up on a stool, and made some adjustments to a laser projector.

"Tony…" Rhodes paused for a moment. One eyebrow lifted. "Where's Potts off to?"

For the first time, his question seemed to get through, as Tony appeared to freeze for a moment, his hands close to the ceiling. After that moment, though, there was a definite sense of Stark _trying_ to look like it hadn't fazed him in the least. "Why?"

Rhodes gave him a knowing smile. "Well, you might not know this, but when you go off the deep end - and you certainly seem to be paddling in that direction right now - she can usually give me a clue as to what's really going on. _That's_ why."

Still standing on the stool, Tony turned to face him with a series of tiny little shuffling steps, and shrugged. "She's not here." He gave Rhodey an blank look and hopped off the stool, going back to his computer.

Rhodes pursed his lips. "Okay." He waited a few seconds, and then shook his head with some annoyance as he turned to leave. "All right. Looks like you don't want company. Probably pushed _her_ out, too. I'll –"

"I didn't push." The colonel paused near the door at the sound of Tony's voice. "She got angry. Okay? Really angry. And she left."

The colonel turned back, frowning sincerely now. "You mean like _left_?"

"Left."

"That's not like her." The only response was a shrug. Rhodes walked over and leaned back on the workbench, studying his friend. "You look like you're not sure she's coming back."

The response was a nearly unintelligible, as Tony twisted a stray piece of copper wire into a small noose. "Yeah."

They remained silent for quite a while.

"Okay. What did you do?" They both began talking at once.

"Me? What do you mean what did I do?"

"It's Pepper, Tone. If she walked out in a huff, someone made her-"

"I just don't see why I have to be the villain in this –"

"-and there's a pretty good chance it's you, since you have this way of –"

"-and she just doesn't seem to understand the financial side –"

Rhodey stopped and stared. "Seriously? The girl with the business degree from Harvard doesn't understand the finances?"

"Well, if she did, she wouldn't be pushing me to get out of weapons manufacture."

Tony looked up, and the pain Rhodes saw in the familiar brown eyes surprised him. He spoke quietly. "Dude. What did you say to her?"

Tony's shoulders lifted and dropped as he took a deep breath and sighed it out. "I don't know. I mean, I know… she was talking about the possibility of _Starlight_ being an educational program, and I…"

"_Starlight_? The one she's been working on?"

"Working on? Well, she was down here trying to learn how to grab, I know –"

Rhodey dropped his head to one side. "She didn't tell you?"

Tony frowned. "Tell me what?"

"Brother. She showed _me_ last time I was here."

"Showed you what? And where was I?"

"I believe you were _otherwise occupied_." Rhodey gave him a smirk and looked around the workshop, then back to Tony. "You got anything big going on right now? With Jarvis?"

"What do you need?

Rhodes looked toward the ceiling and called out. "Hey, Jarvis. Dim the lights, my man, and run the Pepper version of _Starlight_."

"The _Pepper_ version?" Tony's voice was incredulous.

"Yeah."

"What the – Jarvis, why the hell don't I know about this?"

"I beg your pardon, sir, but there was no reason to tell you. You gave Miss Potts full clearance, as you know… And while I don't know why, Miss Potts also stressed to me that it was to be a surprise."

"Surprise?" The lights dimmed, and the familiar green constellations sprang into existence. Tony scanned the 'sky', looking for something different. "So what's –"

Rhodes cut him off. "Hang on. Jarvis. Give me… let's see… Orion."

With a dizzying pan, the sky view shifted, and the constellation of Orion zoomed closer, close enough to touch. Tony blinked, and Rhodes nodded. "Okay. Now show me… Betelgeuse."

The star in Orion's right shoulder (or left, if he was facing away) expanded quickly. Tony shrugged. "Yeah, I can do that with –" Then he stopped, as in the air next to the star, a series of facts about the star appeared. Size, distance from Earth… and a mention that as a red giant it was likely to go supernova sometime fairly soon. (Of course, fairly soon in astronomical terms could mean ten or twenty thousand years). A few bulleted words floated nearby – 'literature', 'speculation', 'constellation', 'time differential'. Clearly one could select any of them to learn more.

Rhodes grinned. "Evidently you can ask it about the star, anything at all, and it will find as much information as it can. And then, after you finish the session, it'll create a series of questions about what you should have picked up. She was working on being able to just grab a star out of the sky and get its info."

Tony stared at the star that was burning silently in front of him. "I didn't program that."

"No. Pepper's been coordinating the Library of Congress and NASA info on astronomy with _Starlight_. She thought it would be a great tool for learning…"

Stark stared. "Oh…boy."

Rhodes tipped his head. "Tony. Did she show it to you?"

"I think she was going to…"

"And what did you say?"

The inventor sighed. "I … laughed it off. I told her it wouldn't make any money, so the board wouldn't touch it."

Rhodey shook his head. "You laughed at her. At this thing she's been working on for, oh, _months_. Nice job, Mr. Stark."

"She can't program."

"Clearly, she can do enough. Jarvis is pretty intuitive. She asked for help a few times, and I told her what I could…"

Tony walked through Betelgeuse and stood in the center of the star. "Jarvis, end program." The lights grew brighter as he turned and looked at his friend. "Rhodey… I didn't mean to…I don't know… make it sound like a stupid idea…"

"Hey, I know. And frankly, she's been working with you so long, that she does, too. But Tony… a little women advice? _Real_ women, that is? You better give her some time to cool off."

The inventor looked thoughtful. "We probably won't see each other tomorrow."

"Good. And tomorrow night we go to LA and I give you the award…"

Tony rolled his eyes. "Yeah, right."

"And then we fly over to Afghanistan for the demo. So you two can chill out for a couple days, and she can forget that you're a jerk."

Tony glared at him. "Thanks a lot, Rhodey."

His friend grinned. "Hey, I've known you a long time. Trust me, every now and then… a break is good." He slapped his friend on the shoulder. "You want to watch the game?"

Tony looked sincerely disappointed as he pulled out his cell phone. "Can't. I've got to finish some paperwork… and a couple things down here. If you want to chill out upstairs, I shouldn't be that long…"

Rhodes laughed. "I can't say that I mind watching on the big set. Come on up when you're done."

oOo

Pepper strode out of the house, into her car, and was speeding halfway home before she realized she'd left her jacket behind. "Damn!" She pounded the steering wheel, turned the car around, and then turned it again, effectively making an o-turn instead of a u-turn. "No. I'm not going back there. Not tonight. It's bad enough I'll have to go and wring the paperwork out of him tomorrow morning."

A car swerved nearby, and she gasped. Taking a few deep breaths, Pepper slowed down and tried to clear her mind. She shouldn't have stormed off that way. It was unprofessional, to say the least, and she prided herself on her ability to remain professional with her boss. "Stupid, stupid, stupid," she mumbled quietly.

She shouldn't even have gotten into a discussion with him about what direction the company should take, at least not a heated one. It certainly was beyond the scope of a 'personal assistant'. But this whole 'Freedom Line' was just getting to be too much. So much destruction. And when asked about it lately, he had developed the habit of talking like it was a collection of toys he was designing.

Still, after feeling so close to him in the workshop, like something might be different, like there might be a little… _something_… the normally calm, collected Pepper Potts had snapped.

No one could get under her skin like Anthony Stark. No one. Sometimes it was because he was her boss, sometimes it was because… _No_. Pepper refused to let her mind go there. She wasn't going to admit just how easily he could make her feel… well, anything. The way they had sort of danced – or _whatever_ had happened - in the starlit workshop proved to her, once again, how careful she had to be. If she let down her guard he would walk right in, from pure instinct. It wasn't that he felt strongly for her, it was just… well, his habit… with women… he was always a little…

_You sure about that, Potts?_

As she pulled into the garage of her condo, her cell phone screamed a few bars of Black Sabbath and she growled as she grabbed it, seeing that it was a text from the man himself. "_Stop changing my ringtones!_" After getting the yell out of her system, she read it quickly.

_Paperwork will be done, courier will drop it at SI by ten. _

She gave a sigh of relief. "Good." He must have been reading her mind.

At least, now, she wouldn't have to see him tomorrow. He was scheduled to be working at the house until he left for the awards ceremony in Vegas, and she had to go into the office to correlate the paperwork they'd been taking care of. Pepper pushed a palm to her forehead and closed her eyes, fighting the headache that was threatening. "I just need a little break. That's all. I'll be fine. If I don't see him for a day I'll be able to handle it again." _Maybe I need to start dating again._ She sighed out a deep breath, and caught a glimpse of herself in the rearview mirror. _Right_.

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Pepper was absolutely amazed when she got into the office the next morning. The paperwork was already there, having arrived even before she did at eight. And, she noticed with even more surprise, it was actually organized neatly, making her life much easier.

_He must have been up half the night. _

She looked at the tidy pile in front of her with a sigh and felt something stir in her chest. Lying on top of the pile was an espresso chocolate bar. One of her favorites.

_This is probably the closest thing I'll ever get to an apology._

Her eyes watered, and she grabbed a tissue, mumbling quietly to herself. "Damn it, Stark. I _want_ to stay mad at you. Why can't I stay mad at you? I need some _distance_ here. You're my boss, and we're never going to -" Her office phone rang, and she took a breath before she marshaled her thoughts and picked it up. An outside line. "Stark Industries, Pepper speaking."

"Ginsing?"

Pepper recognized the college nickname with a smile. "Ariel? Hi! Yes, it's me. How are you?"

"Terrific, absolutely terrific!"

"How was your flight?"

"Perfect. You ready for tomorrow?"

It took her a moment to remember. "Tomorrow? Oh! Yes, I almost forgot…"

The voice of her friend was warm. "He's keeping you busy, eh?"

"Always." Pepper grinned at the phone. An evening out with Ariel was just what she needed. "I'm glad you're in town."

"Me too. Heck, I'm glad I'm in _country_. I can't wait to see you."

Potts sat down in her office chair and lifted an eyebrow. "You still not telling me what we're doing?"

"Nope. Wild horses and all. What time can I pick you up?"

"Well, he's got an awards thing tonight in Vegas…"

"Do you have to go?"

"No, thank God. Rhodey is babysitting him at the casino."

The voice of Ariel chuckled deeply. "I tell you, Gins, you're going to have to get a full time nanny if you ever want a career…"

Pepper laughed with her. "Seriously. But hang on…" She opened the calendar on her cell phone. "Let's see… he'll be home after the awards ceremony, and then Thursday I have to get him out of the house by nine in the morning to catch his flight… I should have most of the day to iron out some details, and – oh, what the hell. I'll take the afternoon off."

"Perfect! Then we can do lunch, too. I'll pick you up at one, and the mysterious day of celebration will unfold. Deal?"

Pepper took a deep breath. Five minutes on the phone with one of her oldest and best friends – even if they only saw each other every couple years at this point – made her feel like all was right with the world. Tony would be off on his own, and she had a fun evening coming up… "Thanks, Ari. You have no idea how much I need this."

There was another chuckle. "Oh, I just might. You know I'm part telepath. See you tomorrow, Gins!"

"One o'clock! See you." She hung up the phone and smiled. Sometimes all you needed was a good friend and a plan. The rest of the day flew by as she got through the paperwork, feeling like the world just _might_ make sense again.

oOo

It had been a long day in the workshop. Or, technically, a long _night_; followed by a rather long morning. It was a good thing that Rhodey had slept on the couch, because that meant he was there to pull Tony out of bed after he got an hour nap and get him onto the plane for Vegas.

Tony pulled his hat over his eyes and sat back into the leather seat of his private jet.

"You really going to sleep? It's only an hour trip."

"I only need time for a shower and to get dressed when we get to the hotel," the voice beneath the hat grumbled.

"You have clothes?"

"Potts had my suit cleaned and pressed. It's in the closet."

"Are you sure? You have a shirt? Shoes and everything?"

A mumbled reply was followed with, "Yes, mom. I'll wash behind my ears, too."

"Hey, I'm just making sure…" Rhodey grinned. "You know, it took you an awful long time to do that paperwork. I thought it had to be in by this morning."

"It was. I was working on something else..."

"Mmhmm. Anything I want to know about?"

"Probably not."

There was a long pause. "Are you really going to sleep?"

The hat, edged with messy black curls, tipped back just enough for Rhodey to see one bleary eye. "Yes. And don't ask me again." It slipped down again. In half a minute, there was a snore.

Chuckling, the colonel turned to look out the window, not at all concerned about taking Tony Stark into a casino.

oOo

The next morning, Pepper got to the house just before seven. Jarvis was programmed to send her a text whenever her boss brought home a 'guest', so she was prepared.

Sweeping into the living room she found a small pile of clothing dropped there, as usual, by her boss as he walked from his bedroom to the workshop. With a sigh, she put the laundry into a nylon bag and then, holding the bag as if it contained a small, largely dead animal, she walked back to the door. "Here." The cleaner who had been waiting took the bag without a word.

"Back in an hour, Miss."

"Thanks, Trev. I appreciate it."

Pepper took a deep breath and went to the kitchen to wash her hands. She poured herself a cup of coffee, and walked slowly back to her office suite. "Jarvis?"

"Good morning, Miss Potts."

"Good morning. What's the lord of the manor up to?" She sat down at her desk and brought up the financial news on her computer.

"He's been working on the 'hot rod' since four-thirty, Miss." Pepper was sure she could hear the air quotes as Jarvis spoke.

"Great."

_There is no reason to go and see him_ _yet_, she reminded herself. He would just be working, anyway, and she needed space, especially today. Not that he would know, or notice… _Hmm. Today_. Staring at the monitor, she switched from the financial news to a fashion site. _There is no reason why I shouldn't get a little something today… I mean, I'm sure he'd want me to_… Biting her lip, she tried not to giggle as she picked out a 'little something' with no back in blue silk that happened to cost about two weeks salary. Then she proceeded to charge it to his private account.

It improved her mood so much, that when the dry cleaning came, she had no trouble returning it to its owner with a pleasant, albeit smug smile.

* * *

oOo

oOoOo

oOo

* * *

_okay… we've crossed the edge. Onward into the breech. If you haven't watched it in a while, you may want to check out the first movie...  
_

…_please feed the author…_


	9. Just A Job: I Won't Send Roses

…_and here we are. This chapter has been in my head for a while, and might be a bit indulgent on my part… and while this isn't a song fic per se, I will give credit at the end for a song… and even tell you where you can hear it. I also must give credit for taking some lines directly from the movie… I think you'll know which they are, but fair is fair. Clearly we are just past 'taking out the trash' at this point, and follow the last chapter directly once more. I hope you enjoy._

* * *

oOo

**_JUST A JOB: I Won't Send Roses_**

oOo

* * *

After making sure that Tony's latest visitor was out, Pepper returned to her office and mulled over some financial reports. When she looked up at the clock, she made a little noise. Time had slipped away from her, but surely he was getting ready to go… "Right, Potts. Like that ever happens." Standing and straightening her skirt, she looked thoughtful for a moment. "Jarvis?"

"Yes, Miss Potts?"

"Start his espresso, please?"

"It will be ready by the time you reach the kitchen, Miss."

She grinned. If only she could find someone like _Jarvis_. Someone who was there for her, who always was ready to lend a hand, who was unfailingly gracious and polite… if only he had a _body_. And maybe dark eyes… "Thanks, Jarvis. Is he still in the shop?"

"Indeed."

Grabbing her notes, she headed for the kitchen, picked up his now full demitasse cup, and headed downstairs. She paused on the landing, wondering just how it would be. They'd had disagreements before, but this one felt kind of raw. Having just ordered the dress, she was feeling pretty cheerful, but you never knew with Tony… music was blaring as she walked into the workshop, and she killed the volume as she keyed in.

"Please don't turn down my music." He said it almost automatically, parts of engine still in his hand.

As usual, she ignored his comment and frowned as she looked at the time. He was still in grubby working clothes.

"You are supposed to be halfway around the world right now."

He ignored her comment as well, still working. "How'd she take it?"

Pepper refrained from rolling her eyes. "Like a champ."

"Why are you trying to hustle me out of here?"

"Your flight was scheduled to leave an hour and a half ago."

"That's funny, I thought with it being my plane and all that it would just wait for me to get there."

She sighed as she looked over her notes, trying to keep him on track without yelling. "Tony, I need to speak to you about a couple things before I get you out of the door."

"Doesn't it kind of defeat the whole purpose of having your own plane if it departs before you arrive?"

Their eyes met as she handed him his coffee, and attempted to do what she always did. Force him through the business details so she could get on with the day. And she believed, somehow, that he knew it meant he could get on with his day, too – but he never tried to make it any easier. They charged through several topics.

"Deflect it and absorb it. Don't transmit it back to me." She shook her head at his back. Like she was some kind of super shield.

"I need you to sign this before you get on the plane."

Tony seemed to assume that acting as if everything was okay between them would, as usual, make everything okay. Still, even he noticed that this morning she seemed less likely to banter, and in more of a hurry. His head tilted slightly as he focused on her. Charm usually worked when nothing else did.

"What are you trying to get rid of me for? What, you got plans?"

She inhaled deeply as she tried to ignore the flutter that was caused by his intent stare. "As a matter of fact, I do."

"I don't like it when you have plans." The child-like expression did her in, and she smiled.

"I'm allowed to have plans on my birthday."

His eyes brightened at her smile, feeling he had broken down any wall that remained, and clearly smug about it. "It's your birthday?"

"Yes."

"I knew that." He frowned as if he wasn't sure. "Already?"

"Yeah. Isn't that strange? It's the same day as last year." From the little sparkle in his eyes, she couldn't quite tell if he was playing dumb, or was actually completely clueless.

"Get yourself something nice from me."

"I already did."

"And?"

She attempted to frown thoughtfully, trying very hard not to laugh. "It was _very_ nice."

"Yeah?" Again, the sparkle.

"Very tasteful. Thank you, Mr. Stark."

"You're welcome, Miss Potts."

She left to walk up the stairs, not looking back, not seeing him turn to watch her go.

No matter what she felt inside, obviously they could play the game again; and that, at least, was something she felt that she could actually handle. As she shut down her computer and gathered her things, there was a smile on her face. Knowing Ariel, tonight would be fun and distracting. And as the vision of deep brown eyes looking into hers haunted her memory, she knew what she needed most now was _distracting_.

Her phone played a little melody, and she read the text from her friend.

_Happy Birthday, Ginsing! I'm out front! Good Lord, this house is huge!_

Pepper laughed, grabbed her coat and headed out, hoping that in a day or two, or at least by the time Tony got back from selling his latest 'toy' - she would have a grip on her feelings again.

* * *

oOo

* * *

Unbeknownst to Pepper Potts, a couple hours later, Tony and Rhodey were slowly finishing off the plane's sake supply as she and Ariel had a glass of wine with a late lunch, chatting and catching up as only old friends can. "Do you still like counseling at the private school?"

Ariel paused to sip her wine, looking somewhere far away. "Yes. I think I do. It's been a little weird… but my sabbatical of six months in Scotland helped a lot."

"And the guy? Is he still in the picture?"

Ariel took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "He still works at the school. And…well… I think we're friends, at the moment."

Pepper had to laugh. "No wonder we get along so well."

The counselor pushed back her dark auburn hair, which fell in long, corkscrewed curls past her shoulders. "What _is_ the deal with you and Stark now? I mean… it's been what, ten years? Have you two ever…"

Pepper stabbed a cherry tomato in her salad and shook her head. "Nope. Never."

"Not even… anything?"

Pepper sighed. "I think 'anything' would lead to 'something', and I don't want to be a one night stand, and _he_ knows it. It doesn't keep him from flirting, though."

"So that's the game? He tries to break down your defenses, making passes left and right, and you stand there like Joan of Arc? The untouchable virgin prize?"

Pepper laughed out loud, and looked around the restaurant quickly before responding more quietly. "Not quite _virgin_. I have been involved with other men."

"Involved with _other_ men? Other than _him_, you mean?"

"Don't you go all counselor-y on me, missy." Pepper toasted her with a smirk. "I know it's weird. But I don't want it to get weirder. And I think it would get weirder."

"And that sentence is the weirdest of all…" They laughed and clinked glasses, and Ariel's green eyes grew more serious. "But you care for him. Deeply." It was a statement, not a question.

Pepper stared at her salad for a long moment before lifting her eyes to her friend. She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out, and she finally settled for a half nodded shrug. Ariel smiled and patted her hand. "Well, good thing we're going out. You ready for tonight?"

"I don't even know what 'tonight' is!"

"True. But it's a birthday. Time to revisit your misspent youth!"

"Really?"

"Yes. Just think college." Ariel paused as Pepper frowned in confusion. "Can Gin sing?"

"Karaoke?" Pepper's eyes widened. "No! We're not – not _Musicals_ Karaoke!"

"Yup, we are. I heard about this great place… a live accompanist who seems to know _everything_, and, well, the local musical theatre students hang out there on Thursdays, the same way we used to take over that place in Boston..."

"But… but I haven't sung anything in ages. Well, not _out_ anywhere."

"So we'll listen for a while first. You know how much fun musical theatre karaoke is. Not to mention the students."

Pepper's eyes brightened, and her smile grew wide. "True. Until AC/DC comes out with a musical, I won't hear much at work." She chuckled. "I'll love to hear, not sure I'll sing…" But Ariel could see the anticipation shining in her eyes. "Wow. My misspent youth, indeed…"

* * *

oOo

* * *

"So I wanna know, Tone… why?"

Tony blinked blearily, drawing his eyes reluctantly from the dancing flight attendants to his old friend. "Why? Why what-what why?" This struck them both as the height of wit in their current, sake-soaked state, and they laughed a little too long before Tony tried again. "Why what?"

Rhodey, catching his breath and trying not to move his head too quickly, shook it gently. "Why is it you and Potts never hook up?"

Tony blew out a breath through pursed lips. "Not in'rested."

The bigger man pulled his head back in shock. "Really? Why wound'n you be in'rested in her? She's amazin'."

"Yeah." Tony's voice was suddenly quiet, and he downed the last of his sake. "She is."

Rhodey frowned. "But your no' interested?"

Tony frowned back at him, just as strongly. "I ne'er said that."

"But you said –"

"No, no. Her. She's not in'rested. An she shouldn' be. I'm just a big, a big…" he frowned, momentarily distracted by the gyrations of the nearest attendant. "Goof to her. Big goofy joke."

Rhodey, even in his muddled state, could see the disappointment in his friend's eyes. He took a breath. "Well… y'know…you... with wimmen… she's got a point."

Tony nodded ruefully, reaching for a fresh bottle of sake. "Yeah." He pushed his jacket into a ball and put his head down. "I'm gonna get a few hours before we land."

* * *

oOo

* * *

The karaoke bar was just off the beach, and already filling up by the time they got there. A platform in the back acted as a stage, with a piano off to one side. A tall twenty-something wearing jeans and a college hoodie was playing softly as the bar filled. Stacked on the piano were several musical collections.

Pepper and Ariel ordered a bottle of wine and sat down at one of the smaller tables, centered, fairly close to the stage but not on top of it. "So? What do you think?"

Pepper looked around. "It's perfect. This is great, Ari. Thanks."

"Hey, anything for my best friend's birthday." A larger table a few feet away was populated with five exceedingly loud and cheerful singing and acting students; one of whom had caught her last words.

"Did I hear birthday? Is it, in truth, the natal day of one of you lovely ladies?"

They looked up in amusement. The handsome young man had to be at least ten years younger than either of them, but he played the charming flirt with practiced ease. Ariel nodded, recognizing an actor having fun and playing along.

"Yes, good sir, this lady sitting with me is indeed celebrating."

"Ah!" He took Pepper's hand, bowed low and kissed it. He dropped to one knee, clutching her hand to his chest. "Then I must dedicate a song to you. You shall be my muse…"

A voice from the table of acting students behind him added, "Your muse du jour, anyway." and they all laughed. He turned back to the table and shrugged.

"What can I say? Jealousy will get you nowhere." Changing gears instantly, the young man jumped up to kiss a dark haired girl at his table and called to the pianist. "Paul! I have to do a song. I must go first, while my muse is still… musing." He bounded up on the platform next to the piano, and they quietly discussed possibilities.

Ariel laughed, looked over at the slightly exotic, dark haired young woman that was clearly accompanying their would-be admirer, and said, "Is he always like this?"

The girl laughed. "Yes, always, I'm afraid."

Pepper smiled but looked thoughtful. "And… it doesn't bother you? That he…flirts like that?"

The young woman smiled up at the man who was, clearly, her boyfriend. "No. I can see right through him when he's trying to impress some other woman. He works a lot harder to impress me…. Of course, when he impresses me the _most_ is when he's not even trying…" She leaned a bit closer. "Not that I'm going to tell him that." The girl winked, flashed a brilliant smile and turned back to the acting conversation.

Pepper and Ariel exchanged a look, and Ariel filled their glasses as she looked at her old friend. "So, Gins… you're sure you know how you feel about this guy?"

"I have to be," she barely whispered.

Ariel tilted her head. "But are you sure he doesn't go overboard just to _keep_ you from getting too involved? He doesn't have a great track record, from what I've heard. And if you mean a lot to him… he might not want to risk losing you."

Pepper looked up. "I don't know. I can't imagine… You sound like he thinks he's not good enough for me. I can't imagine that."

"Well, you might want to consider it. I mean, hell, Gins, if you love the guy, maybe you should go for it."

The piano started to play. Pepper automatically pulled out her cell phone and turned it off as they focused on the stage.

The handsome young man grinned as he spoke to the crowd. "Good evening, I'm Andy, and I'd like to start the evening by dedicating this song to the birthday girl at table two. I know we've just met, but clearly she's falling hard for me… and so, this number from _Mack & Mabel_." He winked at his girlfriend, but as the introduction played, his demeanor changed completely. This was performance. This was serious. He took a deep breath and began to sing in a resonant bass-baritone, his eyes locked with Pepper as if she were the only one in the room.

_Damn actors_, she thought, sucked into the performance in spite of herself. And maybe, just _maybe_, there was something about the intensity of his eyes that reminded her a little too much of someone else. He started the song and she said, softly, "Oh…"

Ariel looked at her and whispered. "Do you know this one?"

Pepper nodded, staring at the young man singing so clearly of a love he was trying to deny.

_'I won't send roses__,__ o__r hold the door__  
__I won't remember__ w__hich dress you wore__  
__My heart is too much in control__  
__The lack of romance in my soul__ w__ill turn you grey, kid__  
__So stay away, kid__  
__Forget my shoulder__ w__hen you're in need__  
__Forgetting birthdays__ i__s guaranteed__  
__And should I love you, you would be__ t__he last to know__  
__I won't send roses__… a__nd roses suit you so_

_My pace is frantic__, m__y temper__ cross__  
__With words romantic__ I__'m at a loss__  
__I'd be the first one to agree__ t__hat I'm preoccupied with me__  
__And it's inbred, kid__ - s__o keep your head, kid__  
__In me you'll find things__ l__ike guts and nerve__  
__But not the kind things__ t__hat you deserve__  
__And so while there's a fighting chance__ j__ust turn and go-__  
__I won't send roses__ … a__nd roses suit you so.'_

Applause broke out across the room as he finished, and the spell was broken. For everyone except Pepper Potts, that is. Ariel was a bit concerned about the expression in her friend's eyes.

The pianist began the melody again, and smiled as he looked over the tables. "Mabel's Reprise? Anyone? Come on, someone must know it…"

Pepper didn't remember standing up. She hardly remembered stepping onto the platform, and taking the microphone. Her eyes played over the crowd as she began to sing in a sweet, sincere voice.

_'So who needs roses__  
__Or stuff like that__  
__So who wants chocolates__  
__They'd make me fat__  
__And I can get along just fine__ w__ithout a gushing Valentine__  
__And I'll get by, kid__, w__ith just the guy, kid__  
__And if he calls me__, a__nd it's collect__  
__Sir Walter Raleigh __I don't expect_

Her eyes closed tight as she finished the last lines.

_And though I know I may be left__ o__ut on a limb__  
__So who needs roses__… t__hat didn't come from him.'_

The students applauded wildly at this, and her admirer came to offer his hand as she stepped down off the platform. He kissed her hand again and held it aloft in triumph, to more cheering.

As she sat down, Ariel was looking at her with a crooked smile. "So… Gin can still sing, eh?"

Pepper blinked. "I guess so." She looked around the room, and back to Ari. "Um… can we go out on the patio for a bit?"

"Sure, need some air?"

"Yes. And I don't want to cry in front of everyone." They picked up their glasses and Ariel grabbed the wine bottle, carrying it out into the cooling evening breeze.

Pepper leaned on the railing, looking out over the ocean. "Damn. I think I must be crazy."

Ariel laughed lightly, giving her friend a one-armed hug and rubbing her back. "I think maybe you're just in love. Happy Birthday."

* * *

oOo

* * *

Across the world, the desert sun beat down on a sharply dressed man.

"Is it better to be feared or respected? I say, is it too much to ask for both?"

The demonstration went off without a hitch, which was pretty amazing considering the amount of alcohol in the sharply dressed man's system at the time. As the convoy of military trucks swung back out onto the dirt road, he joked with the soldiers in the Humvee, enjoying the experience. Until a bomb exploded in their path.

The next two minutes passed in exceedingly slow motion. Tony Stark, weapons god, watched as the soldiers he had been joking with were cut down, even as they tried to protect him. He jumped out of the abandoned vehicle, explosions all around him, and tried to take cover behind a boulder. It was one thing to make weapons of destruction; it was another to be standing in the middle of an attack, watching men and women die. His alcohol soaked system wanted to vomit, but couldn't even remember how to speak, to yell for help. He pulled out his cell phone and began to type quickly –

And a bomb landed mere feet from his supposedly safe spot. Tony stood, wanting to run, but it was too late; the explosion knocked him over, and for a few moments, before he blacked out, all he could smell was blood, and all he could feel was pain…

* * *

oOo

* * *

It was a cheerful but subdued woman that Ariel dropped off at the big house. "You have to go back to work? That can't be right…"

"No, not work… but my car's here… and I'll be honest. The most _amazing_ shower is in my guest suite." They both laughed, and Ariel shook her head.

"Well, fine. And Gins, really… I understand if you feel like you can't go anywhere with this yet. But don't be ashamed of how you feel. Love is never bad."

Pepper grinned at her. "Damn inconvenient, but not bad…"

"Don't I know it."

They hugged, promising to call more often, and Ariel drove off toward the airport. Pepper stood in the driveway and waved until she was out of sight. Then, with a sigh, she turned and walked into the house.

"Good evening, Miss Potts."

"Hey, Jarvis. I thought I might just crash here tonight, since I don't really think I want to drive…"

"Very good, Miss. Do you need anything?"

"No, I'm fine…"

"Would you know, Miss, why Mr. Stark would have left a program running in the workshop? Shall I shut it down?"

She frowned at the top of the stairs. "No, don't do that. Let me come and see what he's up to."

The lights in the workshop were dim. Walking carefully over to his workbench, she saw a post-a-note stuck to the monitor. On it were written two words.

SAY GO.

"Go?" she questioned. Jarvis chirped a response. Flipping the paper over it said SIT.

She sat with a frown and gasped as the room grew darker, familiar stars beginning to swirl around her. But now, instead of just green, the stars were more accurately picked out in shades of red, blue, and blue-white. A large nebula cloud was absolutely breathtaking. "Oh!"

One star began to glow more brightly than the rest, and small letters appeared next to it, with an arrow.

GRAB ME.

Unable to keep from giggling, she bit her lower lip and reached up, grabbing the star as her boss had taught her. The words changed.

NOW THROW.

Shaking her head, she threw the star up, and it burst into a spectacular display of fireworks – which dissolved to leave three sparkling words. _Happy Birthday, Pepper_.

Her eyes filled as she watched the display slowly fade, as the program ended and the lights came up. "You didn't forget…" Swallowing hard, she pulled out her cell phone to send him a thank you. He might still be asleep, so she didn't want to call, but he was known to ignore texts very well if he was tired.

Turning her cell back on, she found that she had seventeen text messages, and more coming in. "What?" Scrolling to the top of the list, she found one from Tony. It was unfinished, but his phone had an auto-send feature to save him time.

_Under attack, men down, they're using my weapo-_

And that was all. Pepper stared at the message in confusion, and her voice trembled as she spoke. "Jarvis? Newsfeed on the big wall, please?" Her phone began to ring, the standard business tone.

Breaking news proclaimed the possible death or capture of one Anthony Stark; either a demonstration gone wrong or a terrorist act. All was speculation, nothing was clear.

Pepper sat, a huddled ball in his chair, her arms wrapped tight around her knees. She stared at the feed as tears spilled down her cheeks.

Her phone rang on unanswered as for the moment, the personal assistant was simply a woman in fathomless grief.

* * *

oOo

oOoOo

oOo

* * *

…_please feed the author…_

* * *

I've never left credits at the end of a chapter before, but this chapter was a new one on me. _Mack & Mabel _is a musical by Jerry Herman, which came out in 1974.

If you would like to see the performance the way I believe Pepper and Ariel did, you can. I cannot put a direct link, so do this: go to _You Tube dot com, _search for_ 'Andy Herr singing I Won't Send Roses'._ Watch it. I know the performer, he knows I'm pushing it.

If you do watch the video - and I _really_ hope you do - please let me know through a review or pm. Smooches.

I am exhausted. Good night.


	10. Just A Job: Waiting

_I'm interested in what was going on back home during those three months… I hope you are too.  
_

* * *

_**oOo**_

_**JUST A JOB: Waiting, Week One**_

_**oOo**_

* * *

Pepper didn't quite know how she got to work the next day. Certainly, she had risen, showered, dressed; certainly Happy had arrived at the house to drive her, looking concerned but professional. Certainly she must have taken the elevator up to her smaller office next to the one belonging to the head of the company. And, she discovered with some small relief, at least when she was up on the executive floor people refrained from stopping her in the hall to ask if she had heard anything. One more sympathetic litany might have done her in.

On automatic pilot, she turned on her computer, hung her jacket and purse, watered the plants along her window. Equally automatically she walked through the artfully hidden door into her boss's office, watered his often-neglected ferns, looked through his inbox, and was leaning to turn on his monitor before it hit her. _He's not coming in today. Not even to stop through on his way back to the workshop._ She froze, her hand on the power button. Blinking herself back to reality, she stood up straight, her face the picture of controlled professionalism. _Get a grip on yourself, Potts. This may be your last day working here, but you're not going to fall apart._ Frowning at her own negative thoughts, she went back through to her office, sat down at the desk, and clicked on the newsfeed.

She watched in a state of numbing despair. More and more often, the reports on Anthony Stark's disappearance were being given, subtly, in the past tense. In the form of an Obituary. 'He _was'_ this, and that, and the other. She turned in desperation to focus on the office email, and her eyes went wide. "Three _thousand_?"

A soft knock on the door frame made her look up. Elise Truman, the head of HR, was standing in the open door, a young woman behind her looking a bit nervous. "Good morning, Pepper." The older woman looked completely professional, but her tone was warm.

_Well, that was fast._ "Hello, Elise. Am I out already?"

"Out? What do you mean?"

Pepper stood and walked around to the front of her desk, motioning for the woman to come in. "Well, it looks like my job may not exist anymore. I assume that –"

Elise held up a hand, stopping her. She turned to the young woman behind her. "Althea, please go and get two cups of coffee. And something for yourself. We just need a moment." The younger woman nodded to them both and dashed away. "Now. No one is assuming Tony – Mr. Stark – is dead. Missing. He's _missing_, and that's the company line until proven otherwise."

Pepper dropped her head, and Elise stepped a bit closer. "Frankly, Pepper, I like to believe he's out there somewhere raising hell. Tony Stark wouldn't leave this world without a comet blazing across the sky, at the very least."

Pepper smiled as she looked up, although her eyes were watering. "True. I don't think he'd have it any other way."

"Exactly. And hopefully his captors will find out just how difficult it is to get him to stay in one place."

"But what am I supposed to do? How do I personally assist someone who's… missing?"

Elise put a hand on her shoulder. "You do what you've always done, dear. You act as the buffer between him and the rest of the world." She smiled, gave Pepper a quick hug, and stepped back, looking more serious. "Did you check the email traffic?"

Pepper took a breath and seemed relieved to focus on business. "I did. It's ridiculous. It's going to take me a week just to sort through today's mail."

"And it won't slow down much until… he gets back. Which is where Althea comes in."

"Oh?" The puzzled look on Pepper's face was echoed a moment later when Althea returned to the office, holding three cups of coffee precariously between her hands, and looked up to see them both staring at her.

"I – ah – got the coffee… Sorry it took so long, I had to ask how you two like it…"

Elise swept over to help her, passing a cup to Pepper and taking one herself. "Nonsense, you were very quick. Pepper Potts, this is Althea Mendelssohn. She's going to help you sort things out until Mr. Stark gets back." Pepper looked at Elise with wide eyes.

"Oh?"

"Yes."

Althea stepped nervously forward, a façade of calm allowing her to extend a hand. "Miss Potts, it's a pleasure to meet you. You've been a role model of mine since college."

"Oh?..." Pepper didn't quite know how to deal with that.

"And I am so grateful to Ms. Truman for the opportunity, even though I know it's temporary."

"Oh, no. I mean – oh." Pepper frowned, looked helplessly at Elise.

"You'll need help, Pepper. I would have waited for you to choose someone, but clearly, time is of the essence. I think you'll find Althea every bit as helpful as you are." Walking over to the door that connected offices, Elise opened it. "I believe the easiest arrangement will be for Althea to work here, in your office, and for you to use Mr. Starks."

Pepper felt the room spin just slightly. Part of her was screaming that there was no way she was going to move in to Tony's office, even though she had used it often enough when he wasn't here. Another more sensible, calmer part accepted that the plan made sense; and a tiny voice in the back of her mind just voiced relief at still having a job. She shook her head to clear it.

"Oh. Okay."

Elise nodded. "Good luck. Call me if you need anything else, or more people. We'll get through this." With a strong little smile, the older woman left, closing the office door behind her.

Pepper lifted a hand to her head and closed her eyes for a moment. "Okay. First things first." She motioned Althea to follow her behind her desk. "We've got to get through this email. I'll need you to sort the sympathy offerings from the business concerns first. Throw the business to me – there's a direct swipe to his desktop, here – and we'll come up with a standard sympathy response this afternoon. You get started. I'll try to answer some phone calls."

"Yes, Miss Potts."

Pepper had to grin, even as she stared at the mound of work. "Pepper. Just call me Pepper."

The younger woman grinned back at her and extended her hand. "Allie."

* * *

oOo

* * *

Shortly before noon, her intercom buzzed. "Miss Potts?"

"Pepper, Allie." She almost rolled her eyes, and then remembered that she was probably younger than Althea when she started working for Tony. "What is it?"

"Sorry. Pepper. There's someone from legal here to see you."

Looking over the notes spread hectically across Tony's normally pristine desk, she sighed. "Sure, why not. Send 'em over." _Now what?_

A soft knock was heard before the rich mahogany door opened. "Hi."

"Ken?" She stood and walked over to meet him halfway. "I didn't realize it was you. I thought it would be Sandra –"

"She's on maternity leave. I think it was just good timing." He looked into her eyes, and the smallest of frowns crossed his brow. "How are you holding up?"

She shrugged, awkwardly. They had dated for nearly a year before the relationship seemed to just fade away… at least, it had for her. From the warm look in his eye, she could see there was still a part of him that cared.

_What, and you don't? He's a good man… _

_Yes. But he's not the _right_ man._

Aloud, she said, "I'm doing all right. I wish we knew something."

He brushed his hand across her arm and she felt a warm little shiver. "I understand."

It would be so easy to fall into someone's arms right now, have him tell her everything would be all right… but she just gave him a steady smile. "So… does legal need anything?"

He nodded, acknowledging the purely professional relationship. "I just wanted to check in before the board meeting next Monday. Make sure you knew it was me on call, not Sandra. I figure you've had enough surprises this week." He shook his head, a wistful expression clouding his blue eyes. "Hell of a birthday for you."

She shrugged, nodded. "Yes, well…" He remembered. He would. "But I wasn't going to the meeting. I've got too much correspondence to catch up on –"

His frown stopped her. "Ah – I really think you should be there."

"Really? I'm not on the board… the only time I attend is when Tony asks me to take notes for him, or that one time he was in Switzerland."

Ken stared at her for a long moment, an unreadable expression on his face. "I think it would be a good idea for you to come."

Pepper blew out a breath. "Well, okay. Two o'clock?"

"One-thirty."

She rolled her eyes. "Great." Walking back around her desk, she stood facing him. "Hopefully, we'll be a little caught up by then. Or maybe he'll be back… Thanks for the heads-up, Ken."

He looked fondly at her. "No problem. Let me know if you need anything."

Ken left the office, and she found herself staring after him for a long moment before shaking her head and sitting down to draft the sympathy response letter.

* * *

oOo

* * *

Obadiah Stane swept the long conference table with a glance, giving a satisfied nod before sitting down at the head of it. "This meeting of the board will come to order. First order of business, the permanent transfer of leadership. As you all know, this requires a majority vote."

Pepper looked up from her pad with a frown. Her eyes darted around the table, seeing varying responses to what was said. She was ready to say something, when the head of R&D spoke up. "Permanent transfer? It's been a week, Stane. There's no proof he's dead."

Obadiah tried unsuccessfully to stare down the engineer. Most of the engineers in research and development were devoted to Stark; he gave them anything they needed, and supported almost everything they wanted to try. _ I'll have to work on that, maybe hire a few of my own._ "Listen, Dave. I'm not saying he is. God knows, I probably want to see him alive more than anyone at this table."

Pepper watched skeptically as Obadiah seemed to be trying to hold back his emotional response.

"But we have to make sure this company is safe. That it goes on. Tony would have – Tony would want that."

She felt herself stiffen, but was distracted when she shifted her eyes and saw Ken glance around the table as if he were counting something, and then looking at her thoughtfully.

"So we need to vote, all of us. I ran this company for almost five years, and most of you know how much I run it now, with Tony's blessing. It just makes sense to make sure that the chain of command is in place. Just in case the worst comes about." His voice, rasping with emotion, rumbled in the board room. "I move that I, Obadiah Stane, be placed in the position of company president of Stark Industries until the resolution of the whereabouts of Anthony Stark are determined."

Dave from R&D spoke up. "I move for an anonymous vote." Obadiah shot him a glare, but it subsided rapidly.

"Fine. Break out the paper."

For a few minutes there was no sound except for the scribbling of pens and folding of papers, the soft shushing sounds as they were passed down to Ken, who opened, and counted, then counted again. Obadiah looked impatient. "So?"

Ken took a deep breath. "It's a tie." Stane frowned darkly, and there was a murmuring at the table as people questioned what he meant. Pulling his laptop closer, the lawyer proceeded to read a passage. "The company bylaws state that in the event of the board being deadlocked, Mr. Stark can cast the deciding vote."

Stane gave a humorless laugh. "Well, I happen to know that if Tony's dead, that vote falls to me." He stood, and began to speak. "I formally –"

"Mr. Stane." Ken was staring thoughtfully at his computer. "I'm sorry, but that's no longer the case."

"What?"

"Mr. Stark evidently filed a new representative for a proxy vote."

"Bull. When?" Obie's voice was furious, but Ken sat calmly behind his legal documentation.

"According to the records, last year." He scrolled through the copy of the document. "…_and in the event of my death or disappearance, my personal power of attorney and board duties will be filled by..._" Ken stopped, avoided a grin as he looked up at Stane. "By Virginia Potts."

All eyes turned to look at Pepper, who looked a little shocked. "What? Are you sure?"

Ken nodded. "It's all here, Miss Potts." He clicked a few keys on his laptop. "I'm sending the documentation to all board members."

Obadiah hitched his hands on his hips and stared her down. "So, Pepper? What's it going to be?"

Pepper stared. _What I really want to do is crawl into a hole, and wait. _ She seemed to hear a voice speaking, and it took her a moment to realize it was her own, sounding calmly professional.

"Mr. Stane, you have been the de facto head of Stark Industries whenever necessary. Your work in that capacity has been stellar. I see no need to change that status at this time. My vote is 'no'." The atmosphere in the room changed, as Obadiah Stane found himself thwarted by a lowly personal assistant. For a moment it seemed that he would burst into a rage – but then the moment passed.

"Very well, Miss Potts." They stared at each other for a few seconds more. "For now, we'll leave things as they are. I just hope you don't live to regret it."

* * *

oOo

* * *

Back in Tony's office, Pepper sat at the computer and stared at the monitor. She wasn't sure why, since all that was there was the same document she had read six times – but she stared, nonetheless. Perhaps it was because the photographed image had his signature on it. Her fingertips brushed the monitor where his scrawl was pictured, and she sighed.

_Come on, Potts. Just finish this up. Then you can go home and…_ Blinking herself back to some semblance of attention, she reached for the mouse at the same instant the document vanished. Her monitor went dark for a moment, only to be replaced by the tasteful, glittering star field of her screensaver.

_Stars_.

_In her mind's eye she was suddenly standing in a basement workshop, surrounded by stars, pressed close to the warmth of another body, looking into eyes so deep and dark, she felt that if she let her guard down for even a moment, she might drown in them..._

With a little gasp, she stared at the monitor. Then, quietly, she put her head down on her desk and wept.

_Oh, Tony. Come back, please…_

* * *

oOo

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* * *

…_please feed the author…_


	11. Just A Job: Waiting, Month Two

_Thanks to those who read and review. And extra special thanks to Nieseryjna who, I believe, is the only one who went and watched the video from two chapters ago! I hope those who are still with me on this little voyage are enjoying it as much as I am._

_And now he's been gone for close to two months. Life carries on... _

* * *

oOo

_**JUST A JOB: Month Two**_

oOo

* * *

"Good evening, Miss Potts. Welcome home."

Pepper shook her head at the idea of the big house being _home_. Still, she found herself stopping here, sleeping in her guest room here, more and more often. She just wasn't sure _why_.

Without Tony blasting music downstairs, without him calling her down to see his latest creation, without him refusing to get his paperwork finished, without… well, _him_… It didn't feel like home at all. It hardly even felt like her second office anymore. Sometimes, it felt more like some kind of monument to the man. A memorial, perhaps… or a tomb.

Maybe she was just kidding herself, and kept coming back here to keep the _idea_ of him alive. She shook the thought out of her head. "Hello, Jarvis." Dropping her purse on the table, Pepper squashed her thumb and forefinger against the bridge of her nose, squeezing her eyes shut for a moment.

"I trust your day was productive?"

"It was good enough. At least the board hasn't found a way to fire me yet…" She chuckled ruefully at herself, and yawned as she kicked off her shoes, heading toward the kitchen for glass of water. "Not for lack of trying, though. God, I'm so tired."

It had been nearly two months now, and she wasn't sure how much longer she could go in to work every day, radiating assurance that not only was Tony Stark still alive, he would be home soon. It was taking its toll on her, especially when coupled with the ever-present negativity of Obadiah Stane. Even her voice was weary as she asked the same question she asked every time she stopped at the big house. "Any news?"

While the news feeds at Stark Industries were monitoring constantly for any information about their missing leader, Pepper had more faith in the slightly more _covert_ information gathering capabilities of her boss's creation.

"Nothing yet, miss. Although…"

In spite of her exhaustion, her eyes brightened hopefully as she sipped. Jarvis hadn't found any alternative news that led to anything yet, although he was able to scan day and night. "Yes? What is it, Jarvis?"

There was a longish pause, and the big screen in the living room went on. "I believe the company may be receiving a pertinent photograph, in approximately five minutes. It was rather _pointedly_ leaked to the internet."

She dashed into the big room and spun to watch the screen. It took her a moment to realize what she was seeing, and just who the bound, bloodied man in the center of the screen was. The picture had been taken just as he blinked up into the lens – and the expression of contained horror in those dark eyes went through her like a knife.

Her voice whispered into the dim room. "…Tony?" Swallowing hard, she spoke louder. "Jarvis? That's him? He looks so…"

"Yes, miss. With a nearly full frontal shot, I have seven points of reference. Even so, given his state of… disarray, it took a moment to be sure. I apologize for the delay."

Pepper frowned against her visceral response, trying desperately to remain professional as her eyes remained locked with the man in the photograph. "Where is he?"

"Exact location unknown, miss. The email was purposely bounced – but from analysis of the path as far back as I can trace it, along with the background geology of the photograph, and of course the Ten Rings paraphernalia, I would put forth that he is still in Afghanistan."

She inhaled deeply. "Is it… current?"

"Impossible to say, miss, although the video still is dated last week. That could, of course, be simulated… and with this level of removal from the original, I can't be sure."

"Can you guess?"

There was a nearly haughty pause. "Technically, _no_, I can't. However, I would estimate the odds of it being a legitimate date from last week is… sixty-four percent, with a ten percent margin of error."

Pepper sighed. "I see. Any new information on the Ten Rings?" The screen changed, splitting into several video images and stills as Jarvis droned on about the organization's activities in the area. She tried to listen, but still, couldn't take her eyes from the picture that was now only a sixth of the screen. Dark eyes, captivating even in despair, held her like a magnet. _Dear God. Is this the last image I'll have of him alive?_

"Jarvis. Why would they release this _now_? I mean, it's been…"

There was a moment of silence, which she recognized as Jarvis checking his various sources. "Apparently the military has 'leaked' some information into that area that they may be ready to start bombing the region. Perhaps this is intended to give them a reason to hesitate."

"Start _bombing_? They haven't said anything at work about a military retaliation–"

"Yes, miss, you should be rather pleased that the nation's spynet transmissions are still secure – at least from _most_ prying. And it is doubtful that the pentagon would admit to retaliating simply because their primary weapons designer and manufacturer was… captured."

Pepper shook her head and exhaled. "Of course. Get me Colonel Rhodes, please." She finished her water and walked back to the kitchen for a refill. A few moments later, Jarvis spoke through the kitchen.

"No answer at the liaison office, miss."

"Right." Picking up her phone, she found his personal number and hit send. When her call went straight to voicemail, she rolled her eyes. "Colonel Rhodes, this is Pepper Potts. I need to talk to you. Call me at your earliest convenience." She nearly hung up and then paused, a small sigh escaping her wearily. She added in a softer voice, "Please, Rhodey."

* * *

oOo

* * *

"Thanks for coming over…"

The tall man, shadowy in dark jeans and a leather jacket, shifted uncomfortably. "Well, I figured you saw that photo by now."

"Yes."

They stood awkwardly near the door, until Rhodey shook his head. "Look, Pepper. I'm sorry I haven't called. Or checked in on you. It's just –"

"Just what?" Her blue eyes flashed up at him. "Tony's kidnapped, possibly hurt or killed, and you just don't think I have a right to know what's going on?"

Rhodey unconsciously took a step back, leaning on the door. His eyes dropped to the floor as he answered quietly. "That's not it. I would have told you, Pepper." He looked into her eyes. "I would have told you, if there was something to tell."

Shaking her head in exasperation, she went on. "Come on, Colonel. You could have at least – I don't know. Stopped by." Her voice became quiet. "I thought _we_ were friends, too."

"We are."

"Then why –"

"Pepper…" He straightened up from where he had been slouching against the door, suddenly every inch the soldier. "I know it was wrong." She stared him down, waiting for more, and his voice became more intense. "Don't you think I _know_ it's been wrong? But I couldn't face you. I could hardly face myself." He looked away again, clearly struggling with what he wanted to say. "It was my fault, Pepper. My fault."

She blinked, a small frown creasing her brow. "What do you mean?"

"_My_ fault. _I_ was responsible for him." His voice rose angrily in the foyer of the mansion, seeming to make the walls vibrate. "It was _my_ job to keep him safe. And what happens? On _my_ watch, he's captured. Possibly even –" He stopped; his lips a tight line, and got control of his emotions once more. When he finished it was in a bare whisper. "My fault. Pepper… I'm so sorry. I just wish I could tell him…"

And suddenly Pepper was hugging him, and they were clinging to each other for support. "Rhodey, I know you tried to stop him from doing the demo there. I don't blame you. No one could blame you."

"Except me." He shook his head. "If we don't get him back, Pepper, I don't know how I'll live with myself."

Pepper took a deep, shaky breath. "We'll get him back."

* * *

oOo

* * *

Two hours later they were sitting in the living room, discussing the situation more calmly and quizzing Jarvis on everything they could imagine relating to the photograph that had been released; from angle of light to type of video gear to geological data on the cave wall behind him. They were getting few answers, and were running out of questions.

Pepper had her legs tucked up under her on the couch, clutching a mug of tea to her chest thoughtfully, as if it could warm her heart. "But are they going to go in looking for him, or looking to blow the place up?"

Rhodey finished off his bottle of beer and shook his head. "You know I can't discuss military plans." He stood to walk to the kitchen and get another.

"But these aren't plans. These are wild speculations." She blinked away from the corner of the big screen, which still held the picture of her boss. "Come on, Rhodey. You must be able to tell me _something_."

He came back to the room, settling into an overstuffed chair and shaking his head.

Pepper narrowed her eyes. "Fine." She turned back to the screen. "Jarvis?"

"Miss Potts?"

"I need information on any military plans relating to Afghanistan, and I don't care how you get it. Anything regarding any shifting of our merchandise to certain units, any fueling of planes cross referenced with requests for missile activation codes –"

"Hey!"

She turned to look innocently at Rhodey. "What?"

With an exaggerated shake of his head, he sighed. "You have _definitely_ been hanging out with Tony too long…" He took a long pull on his bottle before speaking again. "Okay. I don't know much – but I know that Stane is pushing for an all-out offensive."

"What? Why? Doesn't that put Tony in more danger?"

"You know that, and I know that. Stane is saying that the threat will make them give him up." They looked at each other warily. "I've been talking with some friends in, shall we say, other departments. They're trying to put together a search and rescue mission." He leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees. "I'm trying to get in on it."

"Can you do that?"

"I've got the qualifications to run with the snake-eaters. We'll see if the general approves."

"…snake-eaters?" Pepper frowned. "What in the world –"

"Green berets, SEALs, any of the special ops. Comes from having to be able to live off the land…"

"…eating snakes."

He nodded, his mind drifting to memories of training. "Yeah."

"Rhodey?"

He blinked his attention back to her. "What?"

"What if the general says no?"

His eyes flashed with a grimly ironic smile. "That'd be too bad."

They stared at each other for a long moment, before Pepper spoke again. "Do you think we should send in a team ourselves? I mean, I've got power of attorney. I can spend anything if it means getting him back…"

Rhodey sat back in the chair, taking a deep breath before he answered. "Let's see what my friends can come up with, first." Downing the last of his beer, he glanced toward the picture on the screen once more. "But if they come up short…"

* * *

oOo

* * *

Half a world away, in a dark cave, a man stirred uncomfortably in nightmare-addled sleep. His head jerked to the side as a muffled whimper escaped his lips. "No… not…again… no!" His face crumpled as he whispered desperately. "Please, no…"

A few feet away, his doctor woke, lifted his head toward the sounds. Throwing his legs over the side of the simple, hard cot, he reached for his glasses and put them on. Taking a deep breath, he walked over to his patient.

The man's dark hair was wet with perspiration, plastering curls to his forehead that the doctor brushed back gently, checking the man's temperature with the back of his hand. He exhaled heavily, seeming to push down several emotions before grabbing the man's shoulder. "Stark." He shook him again, speaking with a firmness that belied the sadness of his expression, hidden in the darkness. "Stark!"

The man's eyes jerked open with a gasp. "-no! Ah- " He blinked several times into the darkness, catching his breath slowly. "Yinsen?"

"I'm afraid so. I think you were having a bad dream." The older man lifted the blanket covering his patient's chest, and a soft blue glow illuminated their faces. Giving his surgery professional appraisal, he nodded, lowering the blanket once more. "The new generator seems to be working fine, as far as I can tell. And the swelling is much relieved." Yinsen turned on a small camp lantern, looking at his patient again with deceptive casualness.

The man in the bed stared up at the roof of the cavern, clearly trying to stay calm. He said nothing as the older man went on.

"It appears that the socket you made from the missile casing is working out as well. Your skin is looking good, like it's going to accept it. Good thing you insist on stainless for your weapons, eh? " He reached for a bottle of water on the table, continuing to talk in a soft sing-song voice. "You still might want to have it tidied up when you get home. Here. You should drink. You lost some blood, you know."

Tony Stark stared into the dim night of the cave, and mumbled in a voice that sounded like it traveled too far to get there. "I lost more than that."

"Ah, well, yes. Of course. But you're still alive. And where there's life…" Yinsen didn't finish, but helped Stark to sit up enough to drink some water, which he did without much enthusiasm.

"How long?"

"Were you out? A few hours. Are you in much pain?" The lack of answer was information enough. "I still have a few –"

"No. I'm fine." Stark sat up the rest of the way, wincing, and looked at Yinsen. "_Am_ I fine?"

The older man grinned, shrugged. "Yes, yes, you're fine."

"Good."

"You should sleep more."

Stark stood, shakily, and braced himself against the worktable. "No. I need to do some work. I've got an idea."

"You need to get some rest."

"Right. Hey, Jar-" Shaking his head in annoyance, he stopped himself. Then he pulled some sheets of parchment paper close and stacked them neatly; picked up a pencil, studied the dull point with a frown. "And as soon as I'm exhausted enough to sleep without the damn nightmares, I will sleep." He picked up a knife and began to sharpen the pencil with long strokes that were made irregular by the spasm of muscles in his chest that surely screamed in pain. Still, he spoke with determined strength. "Alright?"

Yinsen watched the man for a few minutes. After the pencil was sharp, the paper smooth, and the camp lantern moved to the table, Stark stared into the darkness of the cavern for a long moment, his head moving slightly as if the sketch was happening in his mind. Then, with almost trance-like concentration, he looked down at the paper, and began to draw. Yinsen frowned in fascination.

He knew how much pain the younger man must be in. Knew. He himself had caused a lot of that pain. Even though it had saved Stark's life, he couldn't begin to forget the cries that he had tried to ignore as his scalpel dug into flesh, focusing instead on the shards of metal that were embedded deep…

The older man shook his head. Quietly, although he suspected it wouldn't have mattered, he returned to his cot, stretched out with an aching sigh, and tried to sleep.

After a moment he turned, picked up a stone that rested on the table near his head, and pulled out a small scrap of paper from under it. Bringing the picture of his wife and children briefly to his lips, he cradled it against his chest as he drifted into a fitful sleep.

* * *

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…_please feed the author…_


	12. Just A Job: Transformation

_Sorry it took so long for this one – been sick as a dog and twice as tired. I hope the wait was worth it! Please enjoy…_

* * *

oOo

_**JUST A JOB: Transformation**_

oOo

* * *

It was dark in tunnels that led away from the cavern.

Dark, hot, and crowded with the noise of gunshots and voices yelling in a strange tongue. Inside the heaviness of the armor he had created, Anthony Stark felt sweat pouring down his back as his stomach churned.

In some ways, for the first run of an experimental unit, it was almost too easy. The analytical inventor in his head was pleased at how the hydraulics were working, even as they allowed him to punch a man so hard he flew twenty feet. He was impressed at how the hammered casings of missiles he had designed were indeed able to take pinpoint high-pressure impacts, even as he was sprayed with bullets. He felt the gearing could use a little work, and indeed, some part of his brain was already redesigning the suit to include a cooling system… but for a Mach I model… It was going to work. His kidnappers didn't stand a chance against him, protected as he was. They were going to do it, they were going to escape, and then - he turned a corner.

His only friend of the last three months lay on the floor, his slender body broken and splashed with blood. Tony pushed back the faceplate of his rough-hewn armor and tried incredibly hard not to see what was clearly happening before his eyes. "Come on, you're gonna go see your family. Get up."

The man didn't move. "My family is dead. I'm going to see them now, Stark." Yinsen drew in a shaky breath and nearly smiled, trying even as life was slipping away to reassure the man. "It's okay," he whispered. "I want this. I want this."

Tony Stark stared at the man who had saved him. The man who had changed his life beyond anything he could imagine. He wanted to tell him, somehow, how much had changed because of this, how different he was now, what a difference the man's almost fatherly care and guidance had made, how much it all meant to him… _but_ _there's no time_. The man in the iron suit swallowed hard, struggling to keep his voice steady as he said goodbye in the only way that mattered. "Thank you for saving me."

Yinsen nodded, understanding far more than the younger man could express. Knowing that he meant more than saving his body. "Don't waste it. Don't waste your life."

And then, with an inaudible sigh, he was gone.

Anthony Stark's eyes began to water. _Yinsen…_ The mysterious man who in such a short amount of time had given him his life back, given him a goal, believed in him, helped him find a way out… was dead. The surge of grief was beyond anything he had ever felt, far beyond even the sadness he experienced when his parents died – _but I was different then_.

In that moment he realized just how much he had changed. How much more he _felt_, how much more things could _hurt_ now. It was as if his heart had been torn open literally as well as figuratively, able now to feel both the pain and the gratitude. Perhaps, able for the first time, to love unconditionally. For a split second, he wanted to just fall to the cave floor, to crumple into himself and give up – but only for that split second.

A voice, somehow stronger now, echoed in his head._ Don't waste it._

And in an instant, sadness, grief, loss and love – spun together and concentrated into blinding fury. His jaw tightened as he stood, slapping the faceplate down, truly now a man of iron.

_My turn._

* * *

oOo

* * *

On the other side of the planet it was morning. Virginia Potts stood for a moment outside Stark Industries, looking up at the building with a strange combination of fondness and trepidation. Eventually she took a deep breath, nodded to herself, and walked up the broad stairs.

_This is the day_, she thought sadly. _This has got to be it_.

She was surprised when security didn't stop her as she signed in; somewhat amazed when her code still got her up to the executive suite. In fact, she was already sitting behind her boss's desk when the first indication appeared - not with a bang but with a quiet knock on her door - in the person of one of the top lawyers for the company.

"Ginny? Do you have a minute?"

She looked up at him with a smile, almost relieved that he was the one coming to tell her. "Sure, Ken. Come on in."

It had been two weeks since Colonel James Rhodes weaseled his way into a 'covert mission', publicly given the initiative to do reconnaissance in Afghanistan, privately following more distinct orders to find and rescue one Anthony Stark.

In the two weeks since he left, Pepper found herself being pushed aside more and more by the board. While she still legally held Tony's vote in those meetings, it was only for breaking ties – and as there continued to be no word on his whereabouts or even survival, the board was growing resigned to the idea of Obadiah taking the reins once more.

She felt in her heart that her dismissal was inevitable and actually found herself breathing a sigh of relief, knowing that the end was finally here. There was no way Obadiah Stane would keep her on. "So. How soon do they want me out?"

"Ginny…" The tall lawyer sighed, giving her a resigned smile. "You know I'm not with them on this."

"I know." Pepper walked out from behind Tony's desk and leaned against the front of it.

"But they do have legal rights. You still have the proxy vote – but… I'm thinking there won't be a tie this time." He stepped closer and pushed her hair back gently, letting his hand linger on her shoulder. "I'm sorry, Gin. After this week, Stane says you're either out or back in the secretarial pool."

Pepper looked down, but had to laugh. "Amazing. Over ten years of being a personal assistant to the most powerful man in the company…" her head lifted again as she looked at him. "Obadiah knows I won't go back in the pool. This is his way of telling me to go."

Ken dropped his hand and stared at her. "You could fight it, Ginny – I'm sure there are plenty of other ranking execs who would love to have you…"

"And cross the new president?" A genuine smile lit her face. "I don't blame you, Ken." She looked up into intensely blue eyes, and for a moment, tried to remember why she had broken it off with him. "I appreciate how supportive you've been through all this." Indeed, he had stopped by often to check up on her, taken her out for food when she forgot to eat… and made it clear he still had feelings for her. Maybe it was time…

He pulled her into a hug, and she didn't resist. As he held her, he spoke softly. "Ginny – I know how much he meant to you… but eventually, you're going to have to move on. For your own sake."

She felt herself rebel somewhat against his use of the past tense, and responded in a bare whisper. "But not yet. Just…" She pulled back slightly, looked up into his eyes. "Not yet." It startled her a little to realize how true what she was saying was. "I can't even think about that… yet."

"Well." The lawyer gave her a sad little smile, and leaned in to kiss her gently. "I'll wait as long as I can."

Pepper stayed leaning against the desk for a few minutes after he walked out. _Wednesday_, she thought. _Three days to clean out my things_… Walking around to sit once more, she hit her intercom. "Allie? I'm going to need some help in here. And some boxes. Oh, and get a call in to Elise in HR. He can get rid of me, but there's no way I'm letting him fire you, too."

* * *

oOo

* * *

On the other side of the planet, a military base was buzzing with purposeful, controlled activity. From a quieter corner, among a bank of computers, came a voice. "Major, I think you should take a look at this."

Colonel James Rhodes walked over to the computer specialist, joining the major in charge of the team. "What's up, Hodges?"

"This happened about ten minutes ago. The system registered it as a minor quake, but standing protocol is to double check the satellite imaging if that's the case… and we saw this."

The major nodded. "Play it."

They watched the satellite video of a mountainous, desert area suddenly blossom into flame with red orange fury.

The major frowned. "Explosion?"

"Big one, sir. Really big. Like a munitions dump went up. And this section of the video, from a few minutes before –" He punched a few buttons. "Had to look closer for this one. Probably what started it all." Zooming in on the image, they could see what looked like flamethrowers playing across the desert floor. Abruptly the entire screen flamed red, and the technician had to zoom out again. "Nothing of ours in that area, but if you look at the chemical signature…" he pointed to some data on the screen.

Rhodey and the major leaned in to look, before exchanging a rapid glance. The major spoke quietly. "What're you thinking?"

"Only one person I know who can cause that kind of ruckus, major."

"Right. Scramble the team."

Rhodes was still staring at the computer monitor as the explosion reached its peak. "Hey – what was that?"

"What?"

"Play that back, airman." The computer specialist hurried to comply. "There, that." He pointed to a streak sailing far beyond the site of the explosion.

"Hodges, get a wider view." The major grunted to Rhodes as they watched some large chunks of metal appear to land some half-mile away. "What do you think that was?"

"I don't know, sir. But if it was a munitions dump that went up, it's possible that the explosion threw some debris… it's a chance that there's some live ammo out there…"

"Right. Have the team swing past those coordinates on their way to checking the event site."

Colonel Rhodes came to attention and saluted crisply. "On our way, sir."

* * *

oOo

* * *

Elise Truman shook her head. "Honestly, Pepper, I don't believe any of this."

Pepper gave her a grim smile. "Elise, I can't thank you enough for your support through all this – right from the beginning." She gave the older woman a hug, and they stood there for a few moments in the office of the president of Stark Industries. "I wish…"

Elise put a hand on the younger woman's shoulder. "Listen. You don't really think he's… gone. Do you?"

"Honestly, Elise? I just don't know anymore. But I can't fight the company… I've done everything I could."

"True. You've been quite the trouper through all this." A smile crept across her face. "But I've got to say, for the record – I don't think it's done. I'm telling you, there would be something… some way we would know."

For a long moment Pepper looked into the older woman's eyes, wishing with every fiber of her being that she could feel as sure. Still, when her eyes dropped, her head shook sadly. "I don't know. I really don't. But I can't…"

Elise hugged her again. "Fine. Let's pack up your things."

"What about his things?"

The older woman sighed. "I suppose we can pack those up too, and get them to the house… but even the house…" With a determined breath, she blinked, suddenly the consummate professional. "Let's just get your things together first. And – do you have any suggestions for where I should put Allie?"

"I want to make sure she has a good position…" Pepper frowned thoughtfully, and Elise snapped her fingers.

"She's interested in law, you know. That was her major before we took her on as an intern." The older woman grinned. "Anyone here who might be good for her, keep her on the straight and narrow?"

"And out of Stane's reach?" Pepper smiled. "I know exactly who she should be working with.

* * *

oOo

* * *

It was a blur. A blinding, flaming blur. For a few seconds, as he dropped to one knee, he thought the armor had failed entirely, the shots from behind compromising too much of the thrown-together gearing. But then, it almost seemed as if the armor was drawing strength of character from the man who wore it, and not just energy from the device that was keeping his heart intact. With reckless abandon he sprayed the flamethrowers over the weapons his company had created, almost forgetting the danger of proximity until the explosions began. A faint voice seemed to be calling him, reminding him to stick to the plan.

Blinking the sweat from his eyes, Tony breathed a silent prayer as he flipped the switch that would turn him into a manned missile.

There was something exhilarating about riding the catastrophe wave of the explosions below. Something amazing about realizing he was flying, airborne, free.

Something petrifying in realizing, as he reached the apex of his flight, that he was about to crash into the desert.

The ground approached at a terrifying speed as he screamed - until he hit, and all that remained was darkness and silence.

He didn't actually remember blacking out, but remembered coming around with his shoulder screaming just a bit louder than the rest of his body. As he shifted in the sand, looking around at the debris and pulling off what remained of what he would always think of as the 'first' version of his armor, he smiled to himself. "Not bad."

The inventor in his mind quickly took a back seat to the escaping man – one who had just blown up most of his captors stash. He struggled to his feet, tried to take a bearing on where he had come from, and headed in the opposite direction.

The sun beat down on him, and he knew he wouldn't make it far. _Would a little miracle be too much to ask right now?_ He wished for the sound of helicopters so hard that he actually heard them. _Exactly, that's what I need -_

As he reached the crest of the next dune, he saw them. He waved, fell to his knees, and fought the sobs that threatened. He would have beat them, too, if Rhodey hadn't been the first one to reach him.

"How was the fun-vee?" Colonel Rhodes stared at his friend, and felt the first tremblings of shock begin to shake the once unflappable Tony Stark. He wrapped his arms around him and held him tightly. "Next time you ride with me."

* * *

oOo

* * *

Pepper Potts was sitting at her desk, staring at the monitor. Come on, Potts. Get started, get done, get out of here… Stalling, she clicked on her music program, switched to her musicals playlist. A selection from Les Mis started, and she nearly turned it off – but stopped, letting it play on.

_And now I'm all alone again nowhere to turn, no one to go to  
without a home without a friend without a face to say hello to  
And now the night is near  
Now I can make believe he's here  
_  
She blinked a few times, opened a drawer, and began to pull out her personal files. Mumbling to herself, she threw things into the box with a bit more force than was absolutely necessary. "You will not cry, Potts. You will not…"

_On my own  
Pretending he's beside me  
All alone  
I walk with him till morning  
Without him  
I feel his arms around me  
And when I lose my way I close my eyes  
And he has found me_

Angrily, she slammed the drawer and shut off the music. Somehow, she still heard it… and then realized it was a different melody, from her personal cell phone. Swallowing hard, she picked it up and saw a text had come. A text from James Rhodes.

_Found him._

She read it again, stared, stood up from her desk. Looking around, she picked up her phone again and read it again. A second message arrived.

_Alive. More soon. JR_

She sat down again, hard. Too many emotions were spinning through her to make any sense of – so she found herself reverting to the personal assistant, even if the person she was assisting was herself. _The house. I've got to get to the house, make sure there's food, those protein shakes he likes, make sure the workshop is cleaned up, change the bedding…_ She dropped what she was doing and flew out of the office, through the halls and outside, pausing only long enough to call for Happy and the housekeeping crew.

At the mansion, she walked in to a bustle of activity. Surfaces were sparkling by the time she had gone through the workshop, made sure Jarvis had his updates in order, that there was gas in the cars and wood in the fireplace. A third text arrived.

_We'll be in tomorrow by noon. He says he needs you and the car. Surprise surprise._

Pepper couldn't help but laugh. _Not even home yet, and he's issuing orders._ As the crew finished sprucing up and airing out the house, they headed out, leaving her alone. Walking into the living room, she spoke softly. "Jarvis? Can I have something mindless on the big screen, please?" A video of a popular sitcom came on, and she grinned. "That's perfect."

With nothing left to do but wait, she wandered to the kitchen, made herself a cup of tea. Then she came back to the living room and sat on the floor by the coffee table, leaning back against the couch. She looked around, took a deep breath, and began to sob uncontrollably for the first time in months.

_He's coming home._

* * *

oOo

oOoOo

oOo

* * *

…_please feed the author…_


	13. Just A Job: Homecoming

_I'm sure there were many reasons he seemed so out of it when he finally arrived… This has been fun to write today, as it's my birthday and I had a lovely, lazy day to do it in. Of course, finishing at two thirty in the morning is just what happens. I hope all who share in my little world had a lovely Thanksgiving! _

* * *

oOo

_**JUST A JOB: Homecoming**_

oOo

* * *

Colonel James Rhodes came back from the cockpit of the plane that was flying them out of Afghanistan toward Italy. He looked at his friend, trying not to let the worry show on his face. "Captain says we'll be there in about half an hour. I told him to avoid turbulence if he can."

What he didn't tell the captain was _whatever you do, man, don't let this plane shake him up. I'm afraid he might break._

The man who was slouched wearily in his seat, squinting into the sunset as his head rested against the window, hardly looked like the man Rhodey remembered.

"Tone?"

Almost as if he were waking up, Anthony Stark turned his head with painful slowness, speaking so quietly he could hardly be heard. "Yeah. Thanks, James." He made eye contact briefly, then closed his eyes hard and rested his head back against the seat. "Thank you."

The colonel blinked, holding back his reaction. He couldn't remember the last time Tony had called him 'James'. In fact, he couldn't remember the last time Tony Stark had sincerely thanked him – or most anyone – for _anything_. He sat opposite his friend and spoke softly. "You need anything?"

Stark shook his head, tousled curls dancing. Then he frowned. "I'm kinda cold."

_Shock_. Rhodes stood immediately, reached into an overhead bin and pulled out a couple blankets. He shook them out and tucked them swiftly around his friend, being careful around his wounded shoulder and fussing long enough that Tony finally stared at him with a frowning little grin. "Okay. How's that?"

"S'good. Thanks." The dark man nodded, looked away, clearly feeling a bit helpless in the face of a less-than whole Tony Stark. Tony looked up at him, the faintest bit of an old sparkle shining in his eyes. "Hey. I'm gonna be okay, Rhodey."

The colonel sat back down. "Yeah, you better be."

Tony exhaled a small laugh, blinked, closed his eyes, and fell asleep within seconds.

James Rhodes leaned over to tuck a corner of blanket more carefully and whispered softly. "Man. You better be."

* * *

oOo

* * *

Pepper got one more text around midnight, her time, from Colonel Rhodes.

_Change of plan. Hospital and debriefing stopover at Aviano Base. Home asap. JR_

This time she hesitantly sent a question in return, knowing that his communications were probably being monitored.

_Got it. How is he?_

It was a while before she got the response.

_He's pretty beat up, but he's Tony. Complaining about wearing my fatigues._

Hesitating again, she typed_, 'tell him I -'_; deleted it, tried again and got as far as_ 'tell –'; _deleted it, shook her head and typed_ 'tell him I'm glad he's okay –'; _read it, whapped the fist with her phone in it against her forehead, and deleted it.

Sighing, she couldn't help but smile, even as she worried_. _Finally, she sent

_Thanks, Colonel. Keep me posted._

Pepper stared at her phone for a long while before she finally nodded to herself. "Jarvis?"

"Yes, miss?"

"Where exactly is Aviano base?"

There was barely a pause. "Aviano Air Force Base is in Northern Italy, Miss Potts."

"Are any of Mr. Stark's suppliers near there?"

A slightly longer pause followed. "Mr. Stark has frequently engaged the suit making services of Giancarlo DiLucca, in Milan."

"Right, right. How far is that?"

"Aviano Base is approximately four hours from Milan."

"Hmm. Okay, … let's see…" Checking the time, she shook her head and scrolled through her contacts. "Right." Punching a number, she closed her eyes and inhaled, her lips moving as if she was rehearsing something. In a stunning display of satellite technology, the voice that answered sounded like it was next door.

"Pronto."

"Ah, Buon giorno, Signora DiLucca. È Pepper Potts. Ho parlare con Giancarlo, per favore?"

"Ah, carina Pepper! Poverino! Momento, momento."

Pepper exhaled, the difficult part finished. While she spoke several languages passingly well, her desire to communicate clearly always made it a bit nerve-wracking. A deep, heavily accented voice came on the line.

"Si?"

"Giancarlo? It's Pepper. For Mr. Stark."

"Ah, of course! How are you, Bellissima? We hear of Antonio's capture, we worry. Annamaria prays. What can I do for you?"

"I need a huge favor, Carlo. Mr. Stark was found, and will be in Aviano at the air base tomorrow. He's all right, as far as I know, but one problem is that he has nothing to wear. Well, nothing he's comfortable in." She heard the man chuckle before he ran off a string of rapid-fire Italian to his wife - who responded with exuberant cries.

"Good news, Bellisima, such good news! It's only four hours to the base, and yes, I always have something special here for Antonio. I'll put some things together right away. Would you like anything in particular?"

Pepper smiled. There were some very odd benefits to having your own tailors and designers scattered over the planet… and if they were good as Giancarlo was, Tony paid them exceedingly well for their work. "Your work is always special, sir. If you could pull a couple dark suits and shirts… a few more ties than that, you know how he likes to choose. Oh, and you probably know his underwear needs better than I do "

The deep laugh as the man wrote things down on the other side of the world warmed her heart. "Ah, well, Bellisima, you know Annamaria prays for _that_, too. Ah… sì sì sì... Give me a few minutes."

She felt herself blush, but shook her head. "Thanks, Carlo. I'm sending a courier to your shop, and they'll fly them over."

"No no no no no. I have my people do it. Don't you worry about this."

Pepper smiled. "Grazie, Giancarlo. I can't tell you how much I appreciate it.

The deep chuckle rumbled over the phone once more. "For you and Antonio? Always, Bellisima!"

* * *

oOo

* * *

Tony sat, reluctantly, on the examining table. "I don't want to see a doctor."

"Tony, you've been hurt. You have to –"

"I don't have to do anything. I'm a private citizen, not a soldier. I'm entitled to suffer on my own if I want to."

Rhodes sighed. "Tony…"

Dark eyes snapped to his, some of the old fire flashing there. "Rhodey. Can you trust these guys?"

"Since when are you afraid of doctors?"

"I'm not afraid of doctors. I'm not afraid of anything. It's just…" He exhaled, looked exasperated, and pointed to his chest. "It's this thing."

The colonel nodded. "The magnetic pacemaker? I still can't believe you and that guy –"

"_Yinsen_." The word snapped out more forcefully than he had expected.

Rhodes stopped, nodded respectfully, and went on. "I can't believe that you and Dr. Yinsen managed to put one together –"

"Hang on." Tony looked around the examining room, and spoke in a subdued voice. "It's more than that, Rhodey. Listen. You know the arc generator at the plant?"

Frowning, his friend nodded. "Yeah? What about it?"

Tapping his chest, Tony hissed a whisper. "This is the same thing. Miniaturized."

Rhodes blinked. "Seriously? In a cave, half dead, you managed –"

"Let's try to focus here, shall we?" Tony's eyes were wide as his voice became a more harsh whisper. "I have a major invention here. I don't need for it to get around. And it doesn't belong to the military, and I'm in a military hospital on a military base… If anything leaks out about this, I will slap a lawsuit so hard that I'll be able to convert the Pentagon to condos. You get my drift?"

Tilting his head to the side, the colonel tried, for the moment, to not be a soldier. "Yeah, okay. I get it." He paused thoughtfully. "So why don't we just stick to the pacemaker story? No one's going to believe it's a miniature arc reactor. Hell, they don't exist. And no one's taking it apart, because they'd have to take you apart. It's not going to show on an x-ray, because of the metal. Right?"

Tony stared at him, frowning slightly, and finally sighed. "Yeah, man. You're right. I'm sorry… I just…"

Dropping a hand gently on his friend's shoulder, Rhodes smiled reassuringly. "It's okay. I imagine your reactions are going to be a little, well, _high_ for a while. Trust me, these things take time." Stark nodded, and stared at the examining table. "Good. I'll get the doc."

The young intern was less impressed at meeting the great Tony Stark than one would have thought. Tony could tell.

"So… you don't really like me."

The man shrugged, cleaning up a cut on Tony's cheek. "Let's just say you send a little too much business my way." The doctor proceeded to check out the chest implant, so he didn't notice the pained expression on Tony's face. "Okay, this looks amazingly clean. Of course, it's pretty bulky compared to the kind of pacemakers we have available. I can set you up for surgery –"

"No." Dark eyes stared at him. "I'm keeping this."

"But –"

"Listen. This saved my life. It's staying with me."

With a shrug, the doctor turned away. "It's your life, Mr. Stark. I can't imagine it's the most comfortable device, but since you built it, you probably know more about servicing it, changing batteries or whatever, than I do. I recommend you get checked out with your physician once you're home. We'll send the triage reports. All right?"

Tony nodded, and the doctor stripped off his gloves, tossing them into the garbage. "As far as I can see, you're healing well. The dislocated shoulder will clear up if you give it some rest time. Keep it in the sling and stay on the anti-inflammatory we gave you. You're clear to go." He was out the door before Tony had a chance to exhale. He looked up at Rhodey, who grinned.

"Told you."

Tony stared at him. "Did you look for someone who hated my guts, or do all the doctors feel that way about me?"

* * *

oOo

* * *

The official debriefing was as short as Tony Stark could make it. He gave all the information he could about the Ten Rings, their leadership, and their munitions. He gave next to no information about dismantling his own products to build a suit that may as well have been a walking tank.

"So, Mr. Stark… we know you spent most of your time there building your pacemaker… but how exactly did you get out?"

He'd been thinking about this one since he came to in the sand. "They wanted me to build a Jericho system for them, which was patently ridiculous with the primitive equipment they had available. I took a lot of stuff apart, so it looked like I was doing something – and managed to weld a few things together into a shield. Dr. Yinsen and I blew the door with one of the welding tanks, and took the guns from the ones who were unlucky enough to be on the other side of the explosion."

He paused, sipped some water. "Essentially, we shot our way out. I got lucky. Yinsen didn't." He stopped, sipped again. He had to change this part after Rhodey told him they saw satellite video of the flamethrowers. "I used the last gas tank to spray propellant from the missiles that I took apart, and blew their munitions dump."

The men on the panel stared at him, sporting enough stripes and stars between them to decorate a small Christmas tree. "And how did you get away from the explosion?"

Tony seemed to sigh wearily. "Listen. I know how every bit of that equipment is made. I just hit the right things in the right order. As far as they could see, I was running into a burning building… but I ran right through, out the other end of the canyon, and kept going. It was a bit of a near thing, frankly. Some chunk of something hit me, dislocated my shoulder. But it's better than being holed up in a cave forever."

A couple of them were scribbling notes, and one of the ranking officers cleared his throat. "Mr. Stark, I have one concern with your story."

_Uh-oh._

"Is there a danger that any of our own storage facilities could be attacked that way? For one man to be able to destroy a base?"

Through a huge effort, Tony managed not to smile, but to look quite serious. "Major, I don't think so – but you're entitled to be concerned. I'll put together a report on precautions that should be taken in heavy storage."

There was much nodding. "Thank you, Mr. Stark. I'm sure you're anxious to get home. Your transport will be available at 1700, and we've arranged for Colonel Rhodes to be your escort."

Tony stood, a bit wearily. "Thank you, gentlemen. Is there a place I can sleep until then? And maybe get a shower?"

* * *

oOo

* * *

There happened to be just such a place available in the officer's quarters.

It was an exhausted man that came out of the shower wrapped in a towel and sat on the bed, cradling his bad arm. He was amazed at how tired he still was. _Oh, wait_, he thought, lying back into the pillows, pulling a blanket across himself. _On top of everything else, there's the palladium. I'll have to keep an eye on that…_ He thought he closed his eyes for five minutes, but it was more than an hour later that he heard a knock on the door. "Yeah?"

"It's me, Tone. Can I come in?"

"It's your base."

The colonel came through the living room and into the bedroom, carrying a garment bag and a shoebox. "Special delivery."

"Let me guess. You brought me a fresh set of your sorry fatigues to wear…"

"Nope." Rhodes hung the bag on the door and unzipped it. "Evidently, someone is still anticipating your every need."

Tony stood slowly and walked over to look. In the _Giancarlo_ bag were two custom suits, one a dark pinstripe, the other plain black; two custom shirts, one blue-black and the other a deep crimson; six assorted silk ties, and a bag containing socks and underwear. In the box a pair of black Italian leather shoes was, as he recalled, one of only three pair that had ever been made. Just for him. He grinned.

"Okay. Okay, _this_ is more like it." He looked at Rhodey. "How did you pull this off?"

"I didn't, man."

"Then how did Giancarlo know…?"

Rhodey laughed. "You do still have a personal assistant, you know."

Tony paused, looking thoughtful.

"Hmh." He pulled out the underwear and started dressing awkwardly while the colonel walked back into the living room. Pulling the darker shirt off the hanger, he stared in the mirror as he buttoned it, and called to the other room. "So… What's _Miss Potts_ been doing while I've been gone?" It felt odd to say her name. He hadn't said it in weeks.

"Oh, the usual. Covering your ass."

"Ha. You slay me." Stark zipped his trousers and flipped through the ties. Every one of them was perfect. Not to mention being exactly what _he_ would have chosen.

For the first time in ages, Tony let himself think about the only woman he really had any kind of meaningful friendship with. Back in the cave, he found that he couldn't think about her. It was too hard. She worked so hard for him, was always there for him… and if he didn't get back, might be the only one who _knew_ him, knew him well and might _still_ be upset… he shook his head a little too hard, trying to distract himself. "You can come back in, shy-boy. I'm decent. "

Rhodes reappeared with a solemn grin, leaning against the door frame with his arms crossed easily on his chest. "Just trying to give you some privacy, man. You probably haven't had a lot lately." Their eyes met briefly, and Tony acknowledged that his friend probably had a lot more experience dealing with rescued prisoners of war than he was likely to talk about.

"So…what has she really been doing?"

"Well, from what she told me… mostly handling the PR around your disappearance. Told me she had three thousand emails the first day. Then she had the board to deal with…"

"The board? Why?"

Rhodes laughed. "Come on, Tony. You were gone. Maybe dead. Somehow, a big company like Stark Industries wants to know who's running the store."

Tony dipped his head to the side as he chose a spotted tie and draped it around his collar. "Fair." His brow furrowed slightly. "Damn. I'm tired." He leaned wearily against the closet door, and Rhodey came over to casually tie his tie. Tony did his best to act like it was perfectly normal, but the only other person who tied ties for him was the woman he was trying not to think about. "Then she found out she's my proxy." His heart warmed a little, as he imagined her taking his place at the meetings. _Probably didn't even have to go though an entire notebook, doodling, just to survive a meeting. She'd make a better CEO than I would._

"Yep. The legal department let her in on that little surprise. Although I don't think she minded _that_ one as much." He lifted the suit jacket and held it for Tony as if he'd been his butler for years.

There was something smug in the colonel's statement that caught Tony's attention again. "Oh? Why's that?" He shrugged into the dark pinstriped suit jacket and checked his sleeves in the mirror, attempting to appear only mildly interested.

Rhodey shook his head as he draped the sling over Tony's shoulder, adjusting the fit over the suit. "Evidently that Ken guy took over for the head of your lawyers."

Tony frowned. "Sandra left?" Then he snapped his fingers. "Right, right. Maternity leave. That wasn't supposed to be for a few months-" His expression tightened, and he blinked at himself once or twice in the mirror before adjusting his tie, suddenly feeling much older. "Right. So 'Ken' – this is the same old Ken?"

"The same ol' Ken. And he's been taking _good_ care of her." He would have pushed the teasing farther, but Tony sat down on the bed again rather abruptly, and Rhodey realized it wouldn't be fair. "It was probably a good thing. I was getting worried about her forgetting to eat, forgetting to sleep."

"Oh."

Rhodey watched as his friend sat on the edge of the bed, looking quite immaculate in his custom suit – and a little lost, a few curls falling across his forehead randomly, his hands fidgeting restlessly against each other. The soldier frowned. "You okay?"

Tony blinked up at him as if he had just walked in. He really wanted to ask, _do you think it's serious with her and this Ken guy? I mean, I know I was almost dead, but…_ Instead, he responded with, "Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine." He stood, a bit shakily. "Are we out of here?"

"Yeah." He casually draped an arm around Tony's waist to support him as they walked out. "Let's get you home."

* * *

oOo

* * *

Pepper stood at the end of the runway, waiting. Eventually she could see the plane approaching, and somehow, _somehow_- although it seemed to take hours to land and taxi down to the hanger - it arrived. An eternity later the cargo bay opened, and she swallowed hard as she saw Anthony Stark being helped down the ramp by Colonel James Rhodes. The concerned expression on James' face was enough to bring tears to her eyes yet again, and it took all her strength not to run up the ramp to help.

Then her boss saw the medical equipment approaching, and she watched as he waved it off with a few terse words. Her eyes watered, but a smile started to blossom on her face.

_He's back. He's really back, and he's really annoyed, so I know he's okay. _He took a few steps to meet her, trying not to look as weak as he felt.

"Your eyes are red. A few tears for your long-lost boss?"

Miss Potts felt the smile overtaking her. She wanted to throw her arms around him, hold him for at least as long as he'd been gone – but clearly he was hurt, tired, and they were in public. She reverted to their usual mode of operation. _Keep it professional, or keep it light. _

"Tears of joy. I hate job hunting."

They stood staring at each other for a long moment. He _wanted_ to be able to ask something glib and sarcastic about her Ken doll, but he felt his legs weakening and headed for the car. The best he could come up with was, "Yeah, vacation's over."

Happy Hogan, the chauffeur, touched his cap and gave a smile that covered his concern with professional aplomb. "Welcome home. Where can I take you, boss?"

Pepper broke in before Tony could answer. "Take us to the hospital, please, Happy."

Her boss instantly countermanded her. "No." She tried to argue, but it was no use. "I've been in captivity for three months. There are two things I want to do. I want an American cheeseburger, and the other.-"

She cut him off with a touch of weariness. "That's enough of that."

He finished anyway, a bit defensively. "-Is _not_ what you think. I want you to call for a press conference, now."

As if he'd never been gone, she found herself pulling out her phone to make the arrangements even as she argued with him. Within minutes they had a bag of cheeseburgers and the press meeting scheduled. For a while, they rode in the back seat silently as he ate, the privacy window down.

Pepper glanced at him from time to time surreptitiously, and in an attempt to bring some normality back, checked her phone. She said with a little smirk, "By the way, you have about five hundred messages from women who are _quite_ willing to nurse you back to health in any way you might like –"

"Delete them."

Surprised, she looked over at him. He was staring straight ahead, chewing. "You mean put them off for a while?"

"No. Delete them. Delete them all. And don't take any more."

Frowning just a bit, Pepper spoke softly, with some concern. "Mr. Stark? Are you sure?"

He glanced at her for a moment, and then gave a sarcastic smile. "Don't worry, everything still works. I just don't want to… to deal with them. Any of them. Not any more."

The expression in his eyes was so distraught that she reached over and touched his arm without thinking. "Tony… what _happened_ over there?"

They stared into each others eyes, and he finally blinked away. "Too much." With a certain viciousness he bit into his cheeseburger, and Pepper watched him. Watched his shoulders tense, and his eyes water. Watched the way his jaw tightened. When he finally spoke again it was in a quiet, unsteady voice. "I can't talk about it. Not yet."

Pepper swallowed hard, not realizing until that moment how damaged he had been. She looked forward again, blinking hard but not wanting to upset him any more than he already was. Her palm slid gently down his arm until she took his hand, and their fingers tangled together tightly. Softly she whispered, "It's okay. Whatever you need to do. Just remember I'm here when you need me."

It was only because she was so close to him that she heard how shaky his breath was when he inhaled, felt how he tightened his grasp on her fingers. "I know. You always are. Thank you."

In silence, they rode the rest of the way to the press conference.

* * *

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_thanks to JD for suggestions and encouragement._

…_please feed the author…_


	14. Just A Job: Trust

_And Tony slowly adjusts. As do those around him. I think his transformation is as surprising to him, in some ways, as it is to the people around him._

_Thanks so much to those who feed the author… it makes me want to write! I'm finding it a bit more challenging now that I'm in the movie timeline – it's so good, it's difficult to skip through it – but I don't want to do every single scene (no matter how much I WANT to do every single scene!). I hope you still enjoy. We begin directly after the 'no more weapons' press conference._

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_**JUST A JOB: Trust**_

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"Yes, thank you for your time; we'll be keeping you posted. Thank you." Pepper stepped through the door into the inner workings of Stark Industries, closed it as graciously as she could without actually slamming it on a reporter still trailing behind her. She turned to lean hard against it, her eyes widening as she blew out a breath. Allie walked up and handed her a cup of tea, which Pepper took gratefully.

"How did it go?"

Blue eyes closed wearily as she sipped. "I have no idea. Were you listening?"

"Watched on the security feed. Is Mr. Stark… alright?"

Pepper took a deep breath and opened her eyes. "I hope so." Standing straight again, she looked at her former assistant. "What are you doing down here, anyway? You work for Ken now."

Allie gave her a smile. "Oh, he was watching, too. I think the whole company was. It was certainly… an _unusual_ conference." They grinned at each other, giving a little nod. "Mr. Adams said it was okay if I wanted to stop down and see if you needed anything after fielding the questions. It hardly seems fair that the big guns can just walk out, and you're the one who has to bat clean up."

Potts gave a small laugh at that. "Thanks, Allie. I just need to get him home, now." She frowned thoughtfully. "Unless he's already gone. Did you see where he went when he left?"

The younger woman nodded. "Security cameras followed him down to the reactor level. He was there for a while before Mr. Stane followed him in."

Pepper gave an uneasy glance down the hall. "Well, he shouldn't be wandering around –"

A deep voice spoke behind her. "Why not? Isn't it his building?"

Fortunately she recognized his voice, and managed to avoid jumping out of her skin. Even in his weakened condition he managed to move silently as a cat. "Yes, Mr. Stark. But you should be resting, at home at least, if you won't go to the hospital."

He stared at her, looked with mild curiosity at Allie for a moment, and then looked off toward the exit to the executive garage. "Okay. Let's go." The women exchanged a look of raised eyebrows before Pepper followed him out.

* * *

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* * *

The ride back to the big house was quiet. Pepper could tell how tired he was, and while she was dying to ask just what in hell was going on, didn't feel like she could push him while he seemed so … weak. Eventually they got home, and she walked in with him to make sure he didn't need anything.

"I've arranged for a nurse to keep an eye on you –"

"No."

"Look. I know you hate being watched, but you are clearly hurt –"

"No. No is the answer."

"But –"

"No is my _complete_ answer."

Miss Potts sighed, and looked at him in exasperation. "Fine. Then _I'll_ stay and keep an eye on you." She assumed that it would make him change his mind, so she was a bit startled when he gave her an appraising glance, and then turned away, nodding.

"Fine."

He walked slowly into the living room, looking around his home as if he were seeing it for the first time.

"Good evening, sir. Good to have you home."

"Thanks, Jarvis." He stood in the middle of the room, just staring. Pepper watched him carefully, biting her lip.

"Maybe you should be in bed?"

"No." He let his head drop to one shoulder as he pulled off his tie. "I _should_ be in the workshop."

"Absolutely not."

He actually laughed, albeit quietly. "Don't worry, Miss Potts. I _should_ be in the workshop. That doesn't mean I _can_ be at the moment." He began to struggle with his suit coat, realized that he had to take off the sling first, and began to fumble with it. She came over to help.

"Listen, you can at least be in comfortable clothes. You should go to bed right away, actually, but I want you to be able to at least –" She stopped, distracted by the way he was staring at her. "What?"

He looked away. "Actually, bed may be a good idea." He turned and walked toward his room.

Unsettled again by his acceptance, Pepper followed and found him sitting on the edge of his bed, staring at the floor. She went to his walk-in wardrobe and picked out some soft pajamas. When she came back, he had moved only slightly, and was now staring at the vast expanse of his bed as if it were too huge to contemplate sleeping in.

"Okay." She hesitated, but slipped his sling off and gently took off his suit coat. "How much help do you want?"

He managed to give her a smug grin. "Well, Miss Potts. How much do you want to give me?"

Pepper felt herself smiling, pleased to have at least a shadow of his humor back. "Well, Mr. Stark… I have a feeling you can take it from here. Are you hungry? I can put something together while you change."

He nodded as he slowly unbuttoned his shirt. "I ordered some chlorophyll powder. A protein shake with a scoop of that would be good."

"Chlorophyll?" She made a little face, assuming it was another trend of his. "Going green, are we?"

Tony shrugged off his shirt, and while she could see a glow through his undershirt, she looked away, trying to give him his privacy. He sighed and stretched his neck. "I've got a lot of metal in my body now. It should help me process any toxins."

"Ah." She looked skyward as she dropped his shirt and jacket in the laundry, and headed toward the kitchen. _As if I don't have enough to worry about._ "Is one scoop enough?"

"Should be." He muttered quietly. "For now."

By the time she came back he was changed, and sitting on the edge of his bed again. He was staring at his hands as they rested in his lap, and she couldn't help thinking he looked like a young, frightened child. A bit disoriented, a bit… lost. She pushed down the emotions she felt swelling in her, and attempted to sound calm.

"All right, Mr. Stark. You drink this up, and then it's bedtime." He looked up, startled, and she smiled at his expression. "Here." She handed him the glass and he took it.

"I didn't expect a nanny when I got home."

"Well, then you should have gone to the hospital."

"Right." He gulped down half of the shake, and continued to stare blankly. She frowned.

"Tony? Are you… is there something I can…?"

He looked up at her, took another swallow, and seemed to make a decision. "Evidently Obadiah knows about this." He tapped his chest and gulped more of the shake, seeming to taste it for the first time and frowning at the glass.

Her brow furrowed. "Oh?" It was a little harder than usual to read him, and she couldn't tell if he wanted Stane to know or not. "You didn't tell him about it?"

"No." He finished the glass and handed it back to her, and she placed it on the nightstand for the moment. "I guess Rhodey did."

Pepper waited for some kind of clarification of his feelings about that, but there was none coming. "Okay…" She began to arrange pillows and pull back the covers so he could settle into the bed. "I'm sure Obadiah was impressed that you were able to build something that could keep you alive in a cave in the desert."

"Yeah." Tony shifted, a bit painfully, finally lying back against the pillows. "Impressed."

She could tell there was more going on, but if he was finally able to sleep in his own bed, she wasn't going to stop him with questions. With a little grin she tucked the blankets around him. "Alright now, young man. You go to sleep." He blinked at her, his eyes half closed. "Jarvis, turn off the lights, please." Dark eyes widened abruptly.

"No." The word was a bit louder than he had intended, and there was a brief moment of an old terror reflected in his expression.

She put a hand on his shoulder, gently. "Tony?"

He looked almost embarrassed. "Jarvis… just take it to twelve percent." The lights dimmed accordingly, but there was still enough to see. Tony mumbled quietly. "Don't need it too dark."

Pepper swallowed hard. _The cave. The darkness. The pain._ She spoke softly. "Do you need anything else?"

"Why?" He didn't look at her. "Are you… leaving? I thought you were keeping an eye on me."

For a few moments she paused, trying to make sure she was reading him correctly. "Actually, I thought I'd get a book and sit in here a bit, make sure you really settle down and don't go sneaking off to the workshop." It was a blatant lie, but she had a feeling…

Tony made a show of sighing as he closed his eyes again. "Well, I don't suppose I can stop you, at least in my current state." He seemed to relax a bit, and she smiled as she picked up the glass.

"I'll be right back. Don't go anywhere."

"Fine." His voice was getting sleepy, and quieter. "I'll be here."

Pepper walked quickly to the kitchen, rinsed the glass at the sink and grabbed her laptop and a book from her satchel. For a moment she paused, wondering if he might be out already - and heard a slightly tense voice from his bedroom.

"Pepper?"

"Coming." Blinking hard against the sudden tears, she swept back to his room, settled in his big, overstuffed chair, and turned on a dim reading light. "Goodnight, Mr. Stark. Sweet dreams."

"Goodnight, Miss Potts."

She opened her laptop and typed a quick message to Ariel.

_Ari, he's home but in rough shape. He seems so lost, so weak. You've dealt with post traumatic clients – anything I need to do? To watch out for? -Gins_

The response came so quickly, it was almost as if her friend was expecting it.

_Hey, Gins. From everything I've heard he's a tough customer. Just give him some time, be there to listen. Of course, if he seems to go downhill emotionally after a couple days, he may need some professional help. Keep me posted. And by the way, take care of yourself. Sounds like he's going to need someone stable. And rested. Love you, Ari_

Smiling, Pepper swiftly went through her notes from the day, remembered to book an appointment for one Agent Coulson, sent a mammoth thank you bouquet to Giancarlo and his wife, and rather pointedly closed her computer. _Rested. Got it, Ariel. _She pulled out the novel she had been trying to read all month, glanced at her boss who seemed to be dozing peacefully, and opened the book.

* * *

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* * *

The first night turned out to be the hardest. Pepper was feeling a bit sleepy herself as she yawned at the novel she was reading. She had only closed her eyes for a moment when a strange sound brought her to full attention, and she looked toward the bed where her boss was sleeping. Tony's head jerked from side to side, and he moaned quietly. "No… " He whimpered, his lips drawing back in pain. "No –"

Instantly she was at the side of his bed, found his hand and held it tightly, her other hand on his forehead. "Mr. Stark? Tony, wake up. You're dreaming…"

His eyes jerked open so suddenly that she gasped a little, and then did her best to smile gently at him. "It's okay… I think you were having a bad dream."

Tony stared at her, wide-eyed, before inhaling a gasp of air himself. Slowly his breathing came back to normal, and she pushed his hair back gently. Sitting on the side of his bed, she kept hold of his hand. "You okay?"

He blinked several times. "I'm okay."

Pepper had to smile at that, seeing as she could still feel the tremble in his hand, but nodded agreement. "Okay." She was going to go back to her chair, but realized he was still holding her hand tightly. Shifting just a bit, she put her other hand over his. "You want to tell me what it was about? Sometimes that helps."

"No, I don't," he mumbled, but didn't let go. She waited patiently. After half a minute, he took a deep breath, and began to speak in a hoarse whisper. "When I woke up in the cave, my chest hurt like hell…"

Pepper sat, listening silently, as he explained how it felt to realize there was this _thing_ in his chest, to barely remember – although he found, especially in sleep, that he _did_ have memories – the pain of the surgery itself. How absolutely certain he was that he was going to die there. How Yinsen not only saved his life, but convinced him he had something to live for. How the man had pushed him and guided him and saved him. Several times she felt her eyes begin to water, but held herself together. He deserved that much.

Eventually he seemed to talk himself out, and they sat quietly for several minutes, letting the story settle. Pepper felt like she should say _something_, but he was focusing on the far wall now, frowning. His comment seemed completely off-topic. "You know, I can't believe Rhodes told him."

Her head tilted. "Why?"

"Because it wasn't his to tell…" He looked back to her. "I just thought he would understand that. I thought I could trust him. I mean, he's…"

She smiled. "I know." Glancing at the clock, she realized he could have his medication again. Disentangling her hand from his, she shook a pill out from the bottle on his nightstand and handed it to him with the water glass that was there. "Here."

"Don't want it."

She raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Don't worry, Mr. Stark, it won't help the pain. It'll only keep the inflammation down so your body can heal more quickly." He shot her a look, and she grinned as she leaned closer to whisper to him. "I know machismo when I see it." Looking a bit exasperated but almost relieved, he took the pill and washed it down.

"There. Happy?"

"Yes. Yes, I am." She put the glass down, fluffed his pillows and tucked his blankets again. After a moment she said, "Thank you for telling me what happened."

He shrugged. "That wasn't all of it."

"I know. But it was enough for tonight. I want you to try to sleep."

"Fine." She took his hand again, and his eyes closed. "Thanks."

Her voice was very soft. "For what, Mr. Stark?"

He took a deep breath, exhaled peacefully. "For not leaving me alone, Miss Potts."

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Pepper didn't leave him alone at the house until the fourth week, when she actually caught him in the kitchen, getting some breakfast as she was just getting up.

"Oh! I'm sorry – Jarvis was supposed to tell me if you –"

"I'm fine. I was just hungry."

"Well, clearly, but I would have –"

"I think I can get my own yogurt, Miss Potts." He shook the container and took a sip. "I am an adult –"

"I know that, it's just –" She stopped and looked at him. Something was different. It took her a moment to realize that the reason he looked so different was because he looked _normal_.

Almost every day he had been down in the workshop for a little while, at first, not more than an hour at a time. Gradually, he had been staying down there longer, but usually was completely exhausted when he came back up, falling into bed to sleep it off. Clearly he was deep in a project again.

Today, for the first time since he got home, he was standing steadily, wearing yoga pants and a long sleeved black t-shirt. Before, even when he went down to the workshop, he was in his pajamas, and often a robe. Now his color was good, the sling was off, and he had one hand on the open refrigerator door – but it was his eyes that really stopped her. His expression was completely serious, but his eyes sparkled with hidden humor, as if he was sharing a joke only they understood. _He must be feeling better. _ Pepper looked down, trying to keep her own grin under control. "Well, Mr. Stark. If you're offering to cook…"

He jerked his head back slightly, looked into the fridge, pulled out another yogurt, shook it violently, and handed it to her. "Here. I cooked."

She lost the precarious control of her grin. "Well, thank you. Do you want anything more than that?"

"Maybe in a while. I had my shake already." He closed the door and looked at the clock. "I'm almost done with what I've been working on. I think it'll be okay for you to go check in at the office - just for a little while," he added, before she could protest.

"I don't think I have to." She went to the drawer and grabbed a spoon. "I can do most everything from here."

Tony shrugged. "Okay. Let me know if there's anything new."

* * *

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* * *

The next day was odd.

Pepper Potts still dressed for work, even when she was working out of the big house. As Tony puttered away in the workshop, she got a text from Allie. _Turn on channel 256_. It was an investment show, and the rather theatrical host was in the middle of trashing Stark Industries. She winced as he smashed a mug with a baseball bat, and a voice came over her laptop.

"Pepper, how big are your hands?"

"What?" She frowned at the monitor, turning down the television.

"How big are your hands?"

"I don't understand why –"

"Get down here. I need you."

She dashed down the stairs to the workshop, slightly panicked, and saw her boss lying on a table under a work light. For the first time, she saw the electromagnet clearly on his chest.

Until that moment, she had been very careful to avoid looking, or seeing… as much for her sake as for the sake of his privacy. But now, clearly he was _asking_ her to see it. She found it fascinating, and a bit frightening. "Oh, my God, is that the thing that's keeping you alive?"

He gauged her reaction, knowing it wasn't currently his most attractive feature. "It was. It is now an antique. This is what will be keeping me alive for the foreseeable future." He held up a short, ridged cylinder with a blue-white glow and several wires. To her, it didn't look that much different from the original – but then, she was well accustomed to his affinity for new versions.

For her part, Pepper was considering how difficult it must be to have the implant in his chest, and to work on it at the same time. She also noticed that he managed to look good half-naked, even sporting a huge electromagnet. Surfacing from her thoughts, Pepper realized that he was saying _she_ was going to just reach into his chest and install the new piece.

Pepper felt her heart pounding. "You know, I don't think that I'm qualified to do this."

"No, you're fine." He went on, his voice surprisingly sincere as he looked up at her. "You're the most capable, qualified, _trustworthy_ person I've ever met. You're going to do great. "

And there it was. There was definitely something about the way he said _trustworthy_ that went through her like an electric shock. Ever since he got back, he'd been having issues with who he could trust… and now here he was, essentially asking her to take his life, his _heart_ in her petite little hand…

She took a deep breath. "Tony? It's going to be okay."

He looked up, a bit puzzled. Clearly, he had no doubt that it would be okay. "What?"

"It's going to be okay." She shifted her position to reach into her boss's chest.

"Is it?"

"I'm going to make this okay."

He smirked, wondering who she was trying to convince. "Let's hope. Okay, you're gonna attach that to the base plate. Make sure you... whoa." His eyes widened as the improved reactor gave him a sharp tingle. He smiled. "Was that so hard?" Pepper stared at him, her hands covered in the slime of plasmic discharge, and her lips tightened to a fine line. He burst out laughing. "That was fun, right? Are you okay?"

In the face of his happiness, she couldn't help but smile herself. "Don't ever, ever, ever, ever ask me to do anything like that ever again." She was sorely tempted to wipe her slimy hands on his chest, when he spoke again with absolutely disarming vulnerability.

"I don't have anyone but you."

Their eyes met for a long moment, and over the swelling warmth in her chest she smiled, and reverted to old habits. "Will that be all, Mr. Stark?"

"That will be all, Miss Potts." She took his old reactor with her as she went upstairs, and Tony watched after her.

_She's amazing. Do I know any other woman who could do that, and then just go on with her day? Is there any other woman, any other person I could ask_… he tapped his fingertips rhythmically on his arc reactor.

_Nope. I can't trust anyone else with my heart._

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After the new chest piece was in, Tony seemed to get stronger every day. He began working more and more in the workshop, and Pepper became comfortable spending more time away from the big house. By the time Tony had been home for a couple months, life seemed to be - at home, anyway - nearly normal. Except for a couple little things.

"So, have you talked to Rhodey yet?"

Pepper had come down into the shop to go over a few new complaints from work. Obviously the company still had to fulfill orders for the government that they had committed to; but the board was looking at the new year with great trepidation.

"No." Tony had repurposed one of his drafting tables to work with his laser projectors, and she only heard his voice muffled from underneath, where he was calibrating some sensors.

"Why not?" She shuffled through the mail she was holding, threw most of it away, and looked over to where his legs were sticking out from the table.

The muffled response was nearly instantaneous. "Why?"

Pepper walked over to the table and frowned. "Oh, I don't know…maybe because he's your best friend?"

There was a muffled snort. Eventually, he added, "I've been busy. And I'm sure he's not thrilled about being the military liaison to a company that no longer makes weapons…"

"You could call him."

"And you know I'm not big on phone calls. Much prefer the 'in person' approach."

Tilting her head, she thought this might be as good a time as any to ask. "I've been wondering about that, Tony." Something in the tone of her voice made him slide out from under the table to look at her.

"Yeah?"

There was an awkward pause. "You haven't… ah… _socialized_ at all lately. I can see you're feeling much better, and I was just wondering –"

He frowned up at her for a moment, confused, and then his eyes grew darker. "No." Grabbing a socket wrench, he slid back under the table.

"Oh?" While she hated his revolving door of women, it was such a part of what he had always been –

"I can't do that anymore. It's a waste of time. I can't waste…" There was a grunt, a clunking noise, and a soft curse. "…can't waste my life anymore."

Pepper stood, thoughtfully staring at his feet. _He really has changed._ "As long as you're happy, Tony."

It shocked her just a little to realize she was completely sincere in that statement.

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Still, Pepper's comment made him think that it might be good to have someone to work with. Maybe someone who could understand the exhilaration he had felt flying as he escaped, which was the main reason he was so interested in building a new version of the suit. _Someone who might be able to help me out… like Yinsen did._

His first real trip out of the house was to an Air Force training base.

"The future of air combat. Is it manned or unmanned? I'll tell you, in my experience, no unmanned aerial vehicle will ever trump a pilot's instinct, his insight, that ability to look into a situation beyond the obvious and discern its outcome, or a pilot's judgment."

Tony grinned as he came up behind the lecture. "Colonel? Why not a pilot without the plane?"

Rhodes was startled for a moment, and then looked genuinely pleased. "Look who fell out of the sky. Mr. Tony Stark." They joked with each other, and the colonel turned to his group. "Give us a couple minutes, you guys." The class wandered off, and Rhodey shook his head as he looked at his old friend. "I'm surprised. I swear, I didn't expect to see you walking around so soon."

Stark hid his confusion. _Just who is telling people I'm doing so badly? If even Rhodey thinks I'm still that bad…_ He gave his friend a grin. "I'm doing a little better than walking. Rhodey, I'm working on something big. I came to talk to you. I want you to be a part of it."

The colonel looked relieved. "Yeah? You're about to make a whole lot of people around here real happy, 'cause that little stunt at the press conference, that was a doozy."

Tony frowned. "This isn't for the military. I'm not... It's different."

"What? You're a humanitarian now or something?"

The anger in the soldier's voice startled him, and the tension between the two of them escalated quickly.

"I need you to listen to me."

"No. What you need is time to get your mind right. I'm serious."

Tony Stark stood and watched his friend walk away. It felt like a door had slammed between him and the man who he once trusted like a brother. A heavy, iron door.

_Fine. It looks like I'm all alone on this. Okay. I can do this alone. He clearly doesn't understand. I can't work with him. I can't trust him… Damn, I don't know that I can trust anyone anymore..._

The memory of a warm hand holding his in the night – not because she expected anything, but only because she wanted to make sure he knew he wasn't alone - drifted through his thoughts.

_Well… maybe there's one person. _

Newly determined, he turned and headed home.

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…_please feed the author…_


	15. Just A Job: First Flight

_Thanks to everyone who may still be following - and sorry it has taken so long to update! There's a lot of movie in this one, but I hope the length makes up for it. I realize more and more that I write this as a companion to the movies, and if you haven't seen them, you're probably lost... but if you haven't seen them, I doubt that you're reading this fandom. Anyway. Thanks for checking in.I hope you enjoy.  
_

_Tony's latest project takes off… and he realizes that it could be more than his best toy ever. He also finds himself flying a bit close to the sun…_

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_**JUST A JOB: First Flight**_

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* * *

Tony walked back into his workshop, and sat heavily. His long-postponed meeting with Rhodey had not been what he expected, not at all. What seemed to make it worse was that part of him was realizing once more that either he had changed immensely during the months of his confinement, or everyone else had. Well, almost everyone.

This professional lone wolf was suddenly finding himself feeling something he thought he had given up feeling long ago. Lonely.

"Jarvis, you up?"

"For you, sir, always."

He took a deep breath. _Even if I'm on my own with this, at least I'll always have Jarvis._ An ironic grin touched his lips, proving to himself, at least, that he still held on to his sense of humor.

It would have been nice to have someone to share this project with; someone who might understand the sheer joy of flight… but the way Rhodes had reacted…it was really a wake up call. He shifted gears, the inventor once more. "I'd like to open a new project file, index as Mark Two."

"Shall I store this on the Stark Industries Central Database?"

Tony hardly had to consider, and the edge of sarcasm in his voice was barely muted. "Actually, I don't know who to trust right now. Till further notice, why don't we just keep everything on my private server?"

"Working on a secret project, are we, sir?" Clearly this was nothing new for the computer's artificial intelligence to grasp, but its creator answered seriously, almost bitterly.

"I don't want this winding up in the wrong hands. Maybe in mine, it can actually do some good." As he began work, he thought about what he had just said. _Do some good? Where had that thought come from? It was just going to be the best flying machine ever…_

* * *

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* * *

Pepper keyed herself past the landing door to the basement level, shuffling through various documents on a clipboard. While she could keep everything on her computer tablet, she knew for a fact that getting Tony Stark to sign something electronically was even more difficult than getting him to pick up a pen. There was something about paper that seemed to connect with her high-tech boss… perhaps it was the retro quality. Perhaps it was just his penchant for crumpling up things that he didn't want to see and throwing them over his shoulder. _So_ much more difficult with a tablet.

Smiling to herself, she stopped on the landing as she heard Tony speaking. Frowning for a moment as she listened, she realized he had to be talking to one of his work robots. He _never_ took that tone with Jarvis. _Must be Dummy again. Poor thing._

"You're of no benefit at all… Move down to the toe. I got this. Okay, I'm sorry, am I in your way? Up." There was the faint sound of a tool dropping. "Screw it. Don't even move. You are a tragedy."

Grinning more openly now, she walked down to the workshop level and keyed through the glass door. She found herself glancing over at him, and almost automatically gauging how he looked - if he seemed to be too tired, or working too hard.

"Did you eat?" She asked, trying to sound unconcerned.

"That's what I have you for."

She raised an eyebrow, knowing even as she said it what would happen. "To eat?"

"To remind me."

Pepper blinked. He must be _totally_ immersed in whatever this project was. The door had been wide open for some innuendo with that comment, and he didn't even seem to notice. "Okay…I'll bring something down." She looked at the shining metal boot that he was wiring, and curiosity overcame her. Impulsively, she broke one of her own rules. "Just _what_ are you working on?"

"Boots."

"Yes, I noticed that…"

Tony put down the soldering iron and stretched, pushed his hands back through his hair and succeeded in making it only marginally _more_ messy. He looked over at her, seeming to really register her presence for the first time. "You're asking what I'm working on?"

With a shrug, she lifted her hands in a gesture of surrender. "I know, I know. I don't ask, you don't tell –"

"Do you really want to know?"

She looked up, surprised, into dark eyes that shone with emotion. _He spends so much time down here alone…_ "Tony, you know you can always tell me what you're working on. If you want to."

"Yeah…" He looked down for a moment, then back up to her. "I really need this to stay in the workshop. Just between us. Really."

If he hadn't looked so horribly vulnerable, so painfully unsure when he said it, she might have been offended at his suggestion that she would even _dream_ of sharing his private work with anyone. She was, after all, his personal assistant, which took on certain responsibilities. It was, in her mind, a sacred trust. _He still doesn't know _who_ he can trust. That's not because of anything I did, thank God. I can't take it personally…_

She nodded solemnly. "I understand, Mr. Stark."

Pepper leaned back against a table as he slumped back in his chair. "Okay. I don't think anyone knows the whole story of how I actually got away from that cave. No one but Yinsen, anyway…at least, not yet..."

* * *

oOo

* * *

It was an hour later.

Tony was sitting, cross-legged, on his workbench. Miss Potts was sitting in his lab chair, her fingers pressed to her lips in rapt attention, as if she were trying not to say anything to interrupt his story.

"It was so damn hot, so hard to keep walking on the sand… and then I thought I heard helicopters, and it turned out I really did. Rhodey and the cavalry got me out of there… but even they don't know that I flew." He blinked a few times, thoughtfully, and looked off into the distance. "I _flew_."

Pepper finally spoke. "You _launched_, is more like it. Weren't you afraid?"

He looked over to her, and saw the concern in her expression.

"I've never been afraid of things like that. Not of speed, not of height, not of flying."

"But you could have been killed! And now you want to make another one? What if –"

His expression stopped her. "Hey. I could have been killed by the bad guys, or killed by my own technology. Which would you trust more?"

Her mouth opened again, and closed. They stared into each other's eyes for a long moment, and she finally sighed. "I'm glad you were able to escape – no matter how you did it. But, Tony –" Pepper looked over at the metal boots, and then looked around the shop, noticing the framework of an armored glove here, a circuit board there. "It sounds like a manned missile."

"Not exactly. More like... a flight suit. And this one should be able to fly. To really _fly_. To maneuver… can you imagine? I could go anywhere. Flying without a plane? Just… totally free… I might be able to fly as high as a fighter jet. Maybe as fast."

"And that doesn't bother you." Shaking her head, Pepper stood and walked over to where he was sitting on the bench. Her hand touched his arm delicately. "I just... I don't want you getting hurt again. I don't know if I…"

Their eyes locked. After a moment, he glanced down at where her hand rested, and ran his finger over it with a grin. "Pep, I'm not going to get hurt. I'm pretty good at this inventing stuff, you know."

"I know." Blinking several times, she seemed to straighten up, finding some inner reserve of strength.

He knew that look, and he admired her for it. _She was the perfect partne – the perfect assistant._

"Just… just be careful, okay? You don't have to rush making this one, right? You can make sure it works without putting yourself in danger?"

Tony's eyes sparkled over his grin. "Of course I can."

* * *

oOo

* * *

The boots were done. He knew he should do some weight testing on the thrusters, but he was never one for following rules. Especially his own.

_I haven't felt this excited since – hmh. I don't know when I felt this excited. Maybe when I booted up Jarvis._ He ran down a checklist in his mind.

"Okay, let's do this right. Start mark, half a meter, and back and center. Dummy, look alive. You're on standby for fire safety. You, roll it. Okay. Activate hand controls. We're gonna start off nice and easy. We're gonna see if 10% thrust capacity achieves lift." He took a deep breath, braced himself. Excitement ran through him like an electric current. _I'm not afraid of flying. I'm only afraid it won't work the first time… no, it all makes sense. I can do this. _ "And three, two, one."

He didn't so much launch as catapult. Backwards. He slammed into the wall, and fell onto one of his more expensive vehicles.

Dummy proceeded to carefully spray him down with a fire extinguisher, and when Tony pulled himself off of the badly damaged car, he actually walked over to kick the robot – but remembered in time that he might damage his boots. He lifted a hand and pointed. "You're lucky this time, you… you…" The robot slouched, making a sad sound. Tony snorted and walked away. "Dummy. Hey, Jarvis. What happened?"

"It seems, sir, that there is considerably more power under load than expected. Also, I believe you neglected to calibrate for not having an entire suit of armor on. The weight ratio –"

"Yeah, yeah, got it." He pulled a bag of ice out of his fridge and put it on his head. "Ouch."

* * *

oOo

* * *

"Day 11, test 37, configuration 2.0. For lack of a better option, Dummy is still on fire safety. If you douse me again, and I'm not on fire, I'm donating you to a city college." He shifted in his boots, making sure he was positioned correctly. "All right, nice and easy. Seriously, just gonna start off with 1% thrust capacity. And three, two, one."

He floated a foot in the air before releasing the hand controls and setting back down. His heart was racing.

"And again. Let's bring it up to 2.5. Three, two, one." This time he lifted higher, struggling to keep his balance as he stood on thin air. Trying to steer by leaning in microscopic degrees, he hovered over his cars, over the workbench, the repulsors scattering papers like a leaf blower. With some difficulty he managed to return to his starting position, and set down as lightly as a feather, looking, as usual, as if it all went exactly as he planned it.

His chest expanded as he remembered to breath, and the adrenaline rush nearly knocked him over. Dark eyes were shining fearlessly as he spoke.

"Yeah. I can fly."

* * *

oOo

* * *

It was getting closer to being finished. He could feel it. Tony found himself working constantly, stopping for sleep occasionally, maybe for food when Pepper brought it down to the workshop. He was driven. Much of the work at this point was programming, and he was sitting at his computer typing and talking to Jarvis simultaneously when his assistant came down the stairs.

"Tony? I brought down dinner for you before I head out to the gala."

His mumbled reply seemed disconnected from his body. "Thanks. Are you heading out?"

She grinned. "Yes, Mr. Stark. Heading out." Obviously he didn't need to be distracted with explanations of where she was going.

He nodded absently, and then suddenly spun in his chair. "Hey."

"Yes, Mr. Stark?"

Tony paused for a moment, then stood and walked toward her. "I know Obie keeps coming by, calling. Have you told him anything? I mean…" His voice faltered, not quite knowing how to ask, not sure he wanted to ask at all. "Did you…you know… anything?"

Pepper stood at her customary attention for a moment, deciding how to respond. She really hadn't talked with him much this week, and felt entitled to a tease.

"Well, he asks about you so much, I finally had to tell him something..." His eyes widened slightly, and she held off a moment before she grinned. "I told him you don't usually share your projects with me, but I had a feeling that since your experience in Afghanistan, you were working on some new survival gear. Portable technology, micro-miniature GPS devices…" She actually smirked as he relaxed and gave her a look, his head dropping to one side. "Will that be all, Mr. Stark?"

"That will be all, Miss Potts."

While she couldn't see it, she felt the warmth of his smile follow her as she trotted back upstairs.

* * *

oOo

* * *

Two hours later, the house was quiet as he walked into the kitchen to grab a snack, the dinner Pepper had left for him downstairs completely forgotten. He bit into an apple, nodded, and headed back down to the workshop. He stalled for a few minutes, double checking this and that… and then stepped onto the mounting platform. This part made him just a bit anxious. Although he was positive he had all the measurements perfect. "Jarvis. You know the safe word?"

"Yes, sir. I believe for this procedure it is 'stop'."

Tony shook his head. "Okay. Go."

It took less than two minutes for the machinery to dress him in his armor. As the visor lowered, the virtual screen inside lit up.

"Jarvis, are you there?"

"At your service, sir."

"Engage Heads Up Display. Import all preferences from home interface." His voice was crisp, scientific. No room for misunderstandings here. "All right, what do you say?"

"I have indeed been uploaded, sir. We're online and ready."

"Can we start the virtual walk-around?"

"Importing preferences and calibrating virtual environment."

"Do a check on control surfaces."

"As you wish." Tony felt the rippling of gears as the plates of his armor flexed their mechanical muscles. Jarvis added, "Test complete. Preparing to power down and begin diagnostics."

Tony, on the other hand, found himself unable to imagine not going on. "Yeah. Tell you what. Do a weather and ATC check. Start listening in on ground control."

"Sir, there are still terabytes of calculations needed before an actual flight is-"

"Jarvis! Sometimes you got to run before you can walk. Ready? In three, two, one."

* * *

oOo

* * *

It was two hours later. After his first flight, his near crash, his landing and a long, hot shower to shake off the adrenaline rush, Tony sat in his lab, finally able to think clearly once more. His voice was quiet but level as he spoke to his computer. "Notes. Main transducer feels sluggish at plus 40 altitude. Hull pressurization is problematic. I'm thinking icing is the probable factor."

Jarvis was very nearly sarcastic. "A very astute observation, sir. Perhaps, if you intend to visit other planets, we should improve the exosystems."

Ignoring his comment, Tony went on. "Reconfigure the shell metals. Use the gold titanium alloy from the seraphim tactical satellite. That should ensure fuselage integrity while maintaining power-to-weight ratio. Got it?"

There was a pause as Jarvis connected to outside systems – many of which never knew he did so - and adjusted several hundred thousand calculations. "Yes. Shall I render using proposed specifications?"

Tony sat back wearily. "Thrill me." He glanced up at the television monitor and his eyebrow lifted as he listened.

_Tonight's red-hot red carpet is right here at the Disney Concert Hall, where Tony Stark's third annual benefit for the Firefighter's Family Fund has become the place to be for L.A.'s high society. _

"Jarvis, we get an invite for that?"

"I have no record of an invitation, sir."

_... hasn't been seen in public since his bizarre and highly controversial press conference. Some claim he's suffering from post-traumatic stress and has been bedridden for weeks. Whatever the case may be, no one expects an appearance from him tonight. _

Tony blinked at the screen. _Post-traumatic stress? Bedridden? Who the hell –_

"The render is complete."

Distracted, Tony looked at the rendering. His full armor, gleaming in gold. _Looks kind of like an Oscar. Great._ "A little ostentatious, don't you think?"

"What was I thinking? You're usually so discreet."

Glancing over at his car collection, he considered going with black… but then his eyes fell on his favorite. "Tell you what. Throw a little hot-rod red in there."

If Jarvis could roll his eyes, it would have happened. "Yes, that should help you keep a low profile." A moment passed. "The render is complete."

Tony looked the armor over. Red and gold. Sharp. "Hey, I like it. Fabricate it. Paint it."

"Commencing automated assembly. Estimated completion time is five hours."

Five hours. Enough time to put a few rumors to rest.

"Don't wait up for me, honey."

* * *

oOo

* * *

Pulling up to the gala, Tony jumped out of the car, immaculate in his tux. A few words with a clearly startled Obie, dodging a few women who he honestly didn't remember… on instinct, and with some relief, he found the bar. He hadn't been around this many people in a very long time. "Give me a Scotch. I'm starving."

A man who was so unremarkable it nearly had to be intentional stepped out of nowhere and addressed him. "Mr. Stark? Agent Coulson."

The man kept talking, but Tony was barely listening. It was distracting to see the beautiful redhead across the way, the one with the backless dress. Even from behind, she made him want to – _oh my God._ He looked on in admiration, and then an idea hit him. _And here's my chance to get even with her for that comment about telling Obie everything…_

Agent Coulson was asking for a meeting. _ Fine._ "Let's just put something on the books."

"How about the 24th at 7:00 p.m. at Stark Industries?"

"Tell you what. You got it. You're absolutely right. I'm going to go to my assistant, and we'll make a date." _Or to scare her to death._ He slipped away from the agent and startled Pepper as she turned. "You look fantastic. I didn't recognize you."

Blue eyes widened. "What are you doing here?"

"Just avoiding government agents." He seemed totally fascinated by her gown, which made her nervous.

"Are you by yourself?"

"Yes. Where'd you get that dress?" He sounded like the perfect gentleman, but his eyes seemed to be trying to find out how it came off. She swallowed hard.

"Oh, it was a birthday present."

"That's great," he said, not meeting her eyes.

"From you, actually." She felt herself beginning to break a sweat. _What in the world is he doing here?_

"Well, I got great taste." He gestured gallantly toward the dance floor. "You want to dance?"

Miss Potts did an excellent impression of a deer in the headlights. "Oh, no." She tried to step away, but found herself on the dance floor, her boss's hand in hers, his palm surprisingly strong, warm and intimate on her bare back as he held her. She tried looking over his shoulder, away, into his eyes. Nothing made her feel any less awkward. His eyes sparkled with mischief.

"Am I making you uncomfortable?"

She rolled her eyes and reverted to old habits. "No. No. I always forget to wear deodorant and dance with my boss in front of everyone that I work with in a dress with no back."

Tony chuckled. "You look great and you smell great."

"Oh, God." _Oh, God. He has to be messing with me, but he's beginning to look serious._

For his part, Tony was beginning to feel a bit more thoughtful. "I could fire you if that would take the edge off."

_Okay, now I know he's just trying to throw me off. Thank God._ She lifted an eyebrow as she looked at him, able to play the game now. "I actually don't think that you could tie your shoes without me."

"I'd make it a week."

"Really?" A smug expression made her eyes sultry. "What's your Social Security number?"

"Five."

"Five?"

"Right. "

"Right. You're missing just a couple of digits there."

"The other eight? So I got you for the other eight." Their eyes met again, through the kidding, and something seemed to sparkle between them. He was suddenly incredibly conscious of his hand shifting on her bare skin. "How about a little air?"

"Yes, I need some air."

They walked out onto the balcony, the cool night making her feel a little more stable. "That was totally weird."

He shook his head. "Totally harmless."

"It was totally _not_ harmless."

"We were dancing. No one was even watching."

"Everybody who I work with..."

"We just danced."

"No, it was not just a dance. You don't understand because you're you. And everybody knows exactly who you are and how you are with girls and all of that, which is completely fine. But, you know, then me, you're my boss, and I'm dancing with you –"

He watched her closely. Somehow upsetting her wasn't as much fun anymore. "I don't think it was taken that way."

"Because it makes me look like the one who's trying to..."

_No. I would never want people to think of her that way. How could they? No one could do her job, could put up with me so well. _ "I just think you're overstating it."

But she was on a roll. "You know, and we're here, and then I'm wearing this ridiculous dress, and then we were dancing like that and..."

She looked into his eyes, and suddenly realized how close he was. She could feel the warmth of his body in the cool night air. Here she was, in this ridiculous dress, with this incredibly handsome man…

Tony stared at her, his eyes dropping to her lips. So close. So very close. And she looked so beautiful, and was so warm, so trusting… so amazing. And she was leaning closer.

For a moment he nearly took her lips, knowing that if he simply tipped his head, kissed her, he would be sleeping beside her tonight. It would change their relationship forever… and… He swallowed. In that moment he didn't know if he was more afraid of a relationship with her working, or _not_ working.

His chest expanded as he remembered to breath, and the adrenaline rush nearly knocked him over. Dark eyes were shining as he pulled minutely away.

Pepper opened her eyes, and didn't know if she was more disappointed or relieved. She whispered. "I would like a drink, please."

"Got it, okay." He stepped away, and hesitated when she spoke again.

"I would like a vodka martini, please."

"Okay."

"Very dry with olives, a lot of olives. Like, at least three olives." She held a hand to her forehead, and he couldn't help but hear the slight tremor in her voice.

Tony nodded, and swiftly headed toward the bar. _What was I thinking? I can't lead her on… she deserves better…so much better. _

Another, newer voice in his head responded as he turned a corner.

_She's too important. It isn't fair to play with her emotions anymore. _ Tony nodded to himself.

_Right. For God's sake, she'll think I'm falling…  
_

And with a sudden jolt it occurred to Anthony Stark, for the first time in his life, that while he wasn't afraid of flying, he was suddenly afraid, deathly afraid, of _falling_. The electric thrill that ran through him had nothing to do with the arc reactor in his chest, but had everything to do with a beautiful woman standing alone on the balcony.

He felt, for the second time that night, that he was flying.

As he shook his head to try to clear the oddly airborne feeling, he had a sinking suspicion it was already too late to do anything about it… except fall.

* * *

oOo

oOoOo

oOo

* * *

…_please feed the author…_


	16. Just A Job: Avenging Angel

_Tony learns one too many truths, and his world changes forever. _

_As does the world of a woman who is always there, no matter what._

_Once again I return to my favorite pastime, of filling in the blanks. I do hope you enjoy._

* * *

oOo

_**JUST A JOB: Avenging Angel  
**_

oOo

* * *

He couldn't get out of Los Angeles fast enough. Once he did, though, the Audi screamed west on the Pacific Coast Highway like a bat out of hell.

And even pushing a hundred and a half, the wind wasn't loud enough to drown out the voices in his head.

_"Is this what you call accountability? It's a town called Gulmira. Heard of it?"_

Suddenly- although a glance at his speedometer told him this was no time to be distracted- he was back in a cavern under a mountain; quite positive he was going to die. In spite of that, a man sat across from him over a makeshift backgammon board as they took a break from work and attempted to pretend something was normal, trying to make small talk.

_"You still haven't told me where you're from."_

_"I'm from a small town called Gulmira. It's actually a nice place."_

_"Got a family?"_

_"Yes, and I will see them when I leave here."_

_The man's expression hadn't quite been a smile, but wasn't exactly sad. At the time, Tony didn't know why…_

He pushed the accelerator to the floor, shifting hard.

_"Obie. What's going on in Gulmira?"_

_"Tony, Tony. You can't afford to be this naive." _

_"You know what? I was naive before, when they said, 'Here's the line. We don't cross it. This is how we do business.' If we're double-dealing under the table... Are we?" _

_"Tony. Who do you think locked you out? I was the one who filed the injunction against you. It was the only way I could protect you."_

The trees of the state park streamed away on either side of him as he flew down the highway, the stars overhead the only witnesses to his anger. He pounded on the steering wheel, his voice louder than the wind in his ears. "When did I become such an idiot?!"

Obadiah had been like a father to him – he thought. Took care of everything. _Yeah. He took care of everything, all right. He couldn't possibly have – he wouldn't dare -_

The sudden thought that weapons he designed, he created, might have killed the family of a man who was more like a father than –

A small animal ran across the highway, causing him to swerve dangerously. "Dammit!" His smooth maneuver back to control made him feel, for a moment, like he was flying; too close to flying, in fact, for this particular vehicle.

_I was wrong. I was so wrong… but I can make this right. I can try._ He took the exit that led to his cliff side home the long way, through the mountains. He had two hours to wait for the suit to be done, and visions of upgrades were already dancing in his head.

* * *

oOo

* * *

Pepper leaned on the balcony railing, the breeze teasing her hair across her cheek. She looked up at the stars and sighed. _When will I learn? It could never work… He's too…_

After a moment she frowned, and looked around. It must have been fifteen minutes since he went to get her a martini, and he wasn't back yet. She sighed again, but this time, with more resignation than emotion. "Well, it was only a matter of time. Put Tony Stark in a room full of beautiful women and watch what happens…" She walked back into the concert hall, and headed for the bar to see if it was possible that he only got involved talking with someone. He was nowhere in sight, and she shook her head. _Of course not._

"Miss Potts?"

A conservatively dressed man, who smacked of government agent to her, approached quietly.

"Yes? Can I help you?"

"I'm Agent Philip Coulson. I'm hoping Mr. Stark told you about our appointment?"

Her eyebrows lifted, but she was far too accustomed to covering for her boss for it to throw her. "I don't think he got around to all the details, Agent Coulson." She reached for her bag and pulled out her phone, checking the calendar. "Day and time?" As she keyed in the details, Pepper actually felt herself relaxing. As Mr. Stark's assistant, she knew exactly what she was doing, knew what was expected of her. Perhaps it was just as well he hadn't come back.

"Thank you. And I hope Mr. Stark recovers soon."

"Oh, he's doing much better, it's been a couple months –"

"Oh, yes, we know," Agent Coulson said with a polite, knowing smile. "I meant I hope he feels better after that reporter surprised him with those pictures."

Pepper frowned lightly as she looked around, confused. "I beg your pardon?"

Coulson gestured toward the bar. "He was ordering drinks when Christine Everhart from Vanity Fair showed him the latest pictures released from Gulmira…" He stopped when he realized she was staring at him thoughtfully. "Yes?"

"How do you know all this, _Agent_ Coulson? Or is my answer right there in my question?"

He shrugged a brief smile. "Well, I was standing nearby. And I'm sure you know everything Mr. Stark does, eventually, so I assume it's no breach of security to mention."

"Right… did you see where he went after?"

The agent turned and looked toward the door. "To talk to Mr. Stane."

Pepper frowned again. _It's almost like talking to Jarvis. He knows everything. Or can probably find it out. Hmh._

"Thank you, Agent Coulson. See you on the 24th." She started to walk away, but turned back with a sudden thought. "Agent Coulson?"

"Yes?"

"You're very well informed. Could you, perhaps, tell me how Miss Everhart got those pictures in the first place?..."

Coulson looked away briefly, and when he met her eyes again, his expression was a little too innocent. "I'm sure I can't say, Miss Potts. I assume that as a reporter, she must have sources."

"Yes. I suppose she must."

As she walked to the door, she took out her phone and touched a button on speed dial. "Happy? Could you bring the car around, please? I need to get back to the house."

* * *

oOo

* * *

The mansion had an odd sound about it, one that she couldn't quite identify. Almost as if someone had left a window open. She went back to her suite and changed out of the ridiculous backless silk, and into jeans and a soft shirt.

Then she walked into the main room, and saw the grand piano, smashed. With a gasp she ran over to it, looked down through the hole in the floor, and up to the hole in the ceiling, where she could see stars. "Good grief," she muttered to herself. "What did you do this time?"

Carefully walking past the debris, she headed down to the workshop, keying herself past the landing almost without breaking stride. Hurrying to the shop door, she saw him standing next to a suit of armor – quite similar to the one she had seen before, but shining in gold and red. She was relieved to see he was okay, and opened the door quickly. Uncharacteristically, he spun tensely to see who was there.

She lifted her hands, her eyes wide. "It's just me. Are you alright?"

He turned back to the shoulder panel he was adjusting. "Fine."

Pepper stood still for a moment. After rushing here, afraid he might need her – _hoping_ he might need her? – it was anticlimactic, to say the least. She spoke quietly, trying not to upset him further. "I heard about the pictures."

"Yeah."

"Isn't Gulmira where Dr. Yinsen was from?"

He picked up a clip of what looked like ammunition and slipped it into the shoulder panel. "Yeah." She couldn't help but notice his hand was trembling slightly.

Taking a deep breath, she walked over to him and touched his arm gently. "Tony?"

He nearly shivered when he stopped to look at her. "What?" Dark eyes, that she had seen sparkle with humor such a short time ago, were as cold and hard as obsidian.

"Listen, I - … Do you need anything? I mean… Is there anything I can do… for you?"

"No." He turned away abruptly, then stopped, his shoulders dropping. He didn't look at her, but she heard his voice; a soft growl. "I killed him, Pepper."

"What?" Her eyes grew wide, and she couldn't keep the confusion out of her voice. "Who?"

"I may as well have. Yinsen… must have known. He must have known, Pepper, and he _still_ saved my life. He knew who I was. He _knew_ those weapons that destroyed his village, his family… were mine. I… " Tony slumped into a lab chair and put his hands to his face.

It was almost as if once he began saying things out loud, he couldn't stop. The pain and confusion in his mind spilled into the air. "_I_ was supposed to die. Not him. Not… and then he _saved_ me. Turned my life around. Wouldn't let me give up… I thought Obie was like the father I never had, and now _he's_ the one who…" He took a shaky breath. "I have to do something. I _have_ to…"

When he restlessly stood again, he walked over to his workbench and leaned against it. His hands dropped from his face, and she saw his eyes were wet as his voice dropped to a whisper. "Pepper. It's my fault. I didn't check up, I didn't keep track. I believed him when he said we would never… the company would never…"

"Tony." Unable to completely understand what he was saying but feeling his pain, Pepper stepped over to him and put her arm around him. "It's going to be okay."

"No. It'll never… " And then he turned into her and buried his face against her shoulder.

She stood quietly for a time as Tony Stark; genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist … death-monger … wept.

oOo

An hour later they were sitting in the kitchen. She had managed to pull him away from the lab while Jarvis reconfigured adjustments to account for the new weapons systems.

Pepper made Tony tea, and listened quietly while he told her, calmly now, about the pictures, and about Obadiah's confession. His grief spent, she listened while he told her, again, about Dr. Yinsen, and their conversations in the cave. She even listened when he sat silently, staring at nothing. And when the sun came up, she walked him to his room, covered his exhausted body with a blanket, and sat in a nearby chair to watch him sleep.

* * *

o

oOo

o

* * *

It was two days later. Tony sat back on the couch in his workshop, adjusting a glove from his armor while listening to the video newsfeed. Sadness had turned to anger, burned itself out in rage, and now, now was simply an overwhelming desire for vengeance. Yinsen would be avenged. It was just a matter of time.

Every word he heard the reporter say felt like an accusation.

_The 15-mile hike to the outskirts of Gulmira can only be described as a descent into hell, into a modern day Heart of Darkness. Simple farmers and herders from peaceful villages have been driven from their homes, displaced from their lands by warlords emboldened by a new-found power. _

Tony made an adjustment as his jaw tightened; only half-focused on the tool in his hand.

_Recent violence has been attributed to a group of foreign fighters referred to by locals as the Ten Rings. As you can see, these men are heavily armed and on a mission. There's very little hope for these refugees, refugees who can only wonder who, if anyone, will help._

He stood, tossed the screwdriver on the workbench and took aim at a hanging work light. It blew off its chains as he triggered the mechanism inside his glove, the repulsors making short work of it. Then he looked at his reflection in the glass wall of his workshop. Holding his arm out, he stretched his palm wide. The glass shattered, and the recoil tossed him back a step. With a mad smile, he spun, took out two more panels of glass.

_Yeah. I'm ready._

* * *

oOo

* * *

A flight of over seven thousand miles takes hours, even at supersonic speeds.

Correction - it takes hours, even at new, _improved_ supersonic speeds.

Before he took to the air, Tony Stark worried that by the time he made it to Afghanistan the fire that burned, hot as coal in his belly, would be extinguished. He needn't have worried.

All it took was the telescopic view of what was happening in Gulmira for him to feel the red mist of fury rising before his eyes. It was enough to make him push the suit to its limits, landing before another man was murdered. In fact, after the first rush of battle, he had to take a few breaths to calm down enough to use his armor to its best capability.

And while he stopped short of putting his boot through a man's chest after he recognized him as one of his captors from the cave, the fact that he didn't actually kill him was probably only because of the young boy with dark hair and dark eyes, who only wanted his father to be there… to be alive.

He had evened the odds, and it was no longer his battle.

"He's all yours."

If his head hadn't still been swimming from the battle, he might have been more careful about his route through the no-fly zone. And he might not have been quite so glib, so grudging with Colonel Rhodes when he asked what was going on. Nothing, however, would have stopped him from risking his life to save the pilot who was going down.

His suit might have appreciated a little less battering.

* * *

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* * *

Pepper sighed as she opened the door for the construction crew. It was almost frightening how quickly they could clean things up, put things back together, and make it look like Tony Stark hadn't 'done it again'. "Thank you, gentlemen. I appreciate it, as always."

The foreman tipped his hat. "Anytime, Miss Potts. But keep in mind that roof is barely watertight - we still have to get the polymer roofing from Stark Industries." He shook his head. "Things seem a little odd over there right now - they told us we'd have it in a week."

Pepper gave him a professional smile. "I'll make sure he doesn't jump up and down on it- or I'll try to, anyway. Thank you. Goodnight."

Closing the door, she wondered when Tony would get back. He left a day and a half ago, telling her not to worry.

_Right. Like I'm not going to worry, when he takes off just wearing... _

A whooshing noise made her jerk her head toward the workshop stairs. _He's home. _

She dashed down the stairs, just in time to hear -

"Hey!"

"Sir, the more you struggle, the more this is going to hurt."

Pepper got to the bottom of the stairs, stared at the broken walls, and waded through a sea of broken glass. "What in the world?" She looked up, and saw Tony tangled in mechanical arms and pieces of armor.

"Be gentle. This is my first time. I designed this to come off, so... I really should be able to..."

"Please, try not to move, sir."

Her jaw dropped. "What's going on here?"

Tony turned with a jerk, saw her shocked expression, thought of trying to explain, and shrugged. "Let's face it. This is not the worst thing you've caught me doing."

She stepped closer, ignoring his comment, her eyes only on the armor. "Are those bullet holes?"

"Well, yes, but –"

"Tony! You said you were just going to destroy the missiles!"

"And I did. But the current owners weren't thrilled by the concept…" He watched horror paint her cheek, and tried to speak more seriously. "I did save some lives, if that matters. Women and children, not soldiers..."

Pepper blinked away from the damaged suit, and looked up into his eyes. "You could have been killed, Tony. You could have…"

He spoke softly. "But I wasn't. And Gulmira is safe. At least for now." He shifted his stance as the machinery finally adjusted to the slightly damaged armor's measurements, and successfully began to remove it. He spoke without looking at her. "Pep… I had to fight for them… they didn't have anyone who could fight for them."

She stood for a moment, before taking a deep breath.

"Jarvis?"

"Yes, Miss?"

She sighed out the breath. "Tell the work crew we're going to need them back."

* * *

oOo

* * *

A day later, Pepper had hoped that life could begin to settle into some kind of rhythm again, but it appeared unlikely. Tony was convinced that Obadiah couldn't be trusted, no matter what the board thought. She was distracted as she walked into the workshop, and he looked up from his desk with a thoughtful expression. He gave her a tight smile.

"Hey. You busy? You mind if I send you on an errand?"

_Well, at least that's normal. Getting sent out on strange errands. _

"I need you to go to my office. You're going to hack into the mainframe and you're going to retrieve all the recent shipping manifests." He kept talking, but she was only listening with half an ear.

"And what do you plan to do with this information if I bring it back here?"

"Same drill. They've been dealing under the table, and I'm going to stop them. I'm going to find my weapons and destroy them."

Pepper couldn't keep the frustration out of her voice. "Tony, you know that I would help you with anything, but I cannot help you if you're going to start all of this again."

His eyes grew hard. "There is nothing _except_ this. There's no art opening. There is no benefit. There is nothing to sign. There is the next mission and _nothing_ else."

Their eyes locked, and she heard an unspoken addition, whether he felt it or not.

_There's not even an_ 'us'_._ _And there never can be._

"Is that so? Well, then, I quit." She tossed the thumb drive he had given her onto his bench and turned to leave.

He stepped back as if she had slapped him. "You stood by my side all these years while I reaped the benefits of destruction. And now that I'm trying to protect the people that I put in harm's way, you're going to walk out?"

"You're going to kill yourself, Tony. I'm not going to be a part of it."

He slumped into a chair, staring at the floor. "I shouldn't be alive… unless it was for a reason." His eyes, dark and full of passion, lifted to her. "I'm not _crazy_, Pepper. I just finally know what I have to do. And I know, in my _heart_… that it's right."

They stared at each other for a long moment. Then she stepped forward and took the thumb drive, cradled it in her palm, and looked up at him. "You're all I have, too, you know."

Pepper turned on her heel and walked out.

Tony stood silently and watched her.

_What would I do without her? _

What _she_ might do without _him_ hadn't yet occurred to him.

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…_please feed the author…_


	17. Just A Job: Secret Agent Man

_Sorry it's been so long! End of the semester and all. Getting close to the end, now, but I seem to be stalling… I hope you enjoy a different point of view._

_A special thank you to those who read, and an extra helping of thanks to those who leave reviews._

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_**JUST A JOB: Secret Agent Man**_

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* * *

A studiously nondescript man walked quietly through the large glass doors into the lobby of Stark Industries. Not remarkably tall, or short, or fat, or thin. Not remarkably handsome, yet certainly not unattractive. The kind of man who could ease into the background, unnoticed.

Among his peers - which were few - he was known for moving with quiet, unhurried efficiency, while still somehow managing to always be exactly where he was needed. He was known for being able to handle the most difficult situations with thoughtful calm, even if bullets were flying, and it seemed the world might be ending. Known, and greatly appreciated.

He was also known to have a mind for detail, the ability to talk calmly in the face of opposition, and was therefore well suited for situations that required interaction with any kind of 'normal' people, which, in his experience, constituted anyone outside of the department.

Today was an interaction day. A calm day, in fact. There weren't many calm days in his line of work lately, and he was pleased to relax into it. Finally, he would be able to file the debriefing he had been assigned months ago. He smiled politely at the desk guard who looked up at him.

"Can I help you?"

"Good afternoon. I have an appointment scheduled with Mr. Stark."

The guard checked the computer. "And you would be…"

"Agent Philip Coulson."

The guard nodded with some distraction as he read off the monitor. "Well, Mr. Coulson, you're on the schedule all right, but Mr. Stark is out of the building at the present time." He gave the agent a grin that suggested this happened consistantly. "However, I know his assistant is picking some things up for him, because she came flying through about five minutes ago. If you wait over there, you should be able to catch Miss Potts, at least."

The agent nodded politely, and headed over to the bench indicated by the guard. Perfectly calm in appearance, internally he went over the things he had to do, that he _could_ be doing right now, while he waited. Still, he felt relaxed. A delayed meeting was nothing compared to some of the situations he found himself in these days.

_I better get this debriefing today, though, or Fury'll have a fit. _

He was just determining whether or not the weekend would be calm enough to call a certain concert cellist when a movement on the mezzanine above caught his attention. People had been coming and going, but this was different. Pepper Potts was coming down the stairs, in a hurry. In fact, it looked like she would have broken into a run if she could have.

Beyond her, he saw Obadiah Stane appear quickly at the top of the stairs, glaring down at her. Agent Coulson saw Miss Potts half-turn, trying to see if Stane was there without actually looking. He spoke quickly but softly, not yet sure what was happening.

"Ms. Potts? We had an appointment. Did you forget about our appointment?" She moved past him so quickly that startled, he had to hurry to catch up. He was impressed at just how fast she could move in those heels.

Pepper glanced at him, registering who he was without slowing. Her brusque tone surprised him. "Nope, right now. Come with me." She looked slightly relieved at the presence of the agent, as if she could feel Obadiah's hot glare on her back.

Coulson saw the expression on her face, and compared it to the expression he could see on Stane as he glowered from the top of the stairs. "Right now?" He blinked as they trotted down the hall, automatically scanning the building for possible dangers – and other exits. "We're going to have it right now?" This was turning into a completely different situation than he had hoped for. As usual.

"Yeah, walk with me."

"Okay." _Walk?_ If she hadn't been so tense, Agent Coulson might have laughed as he trotted to keep up. She went on, shaking her head and muttering.

"I'm going to give you the meeting of your life. _Your_ office."

They strode purposefully through the glass doors, and out into the fresh air. Pepper let out a breath, but kept talking nervously. "Cab. A cab. Do we need a cab?"

The agent took her elbow, and was surprised when she startled a bit. "I have a car, Miss Potts. Come on. We'll get you out of here."

"Is your car in the parking garage? I don't want to go to the parking garage. He might be waiting – I mean, he might know –" Her hand went to her forehead for a moment, and she tried to compose herself. "I'm sorry, Agent Coulson. I don't mean to drag you into this. It's just –"

He smiled gently at her. "It's alright. Trust me, I'm accustomed to dealing with difficult situations."

She looked into his eyes for a moment, and made her decision. With a terribly tight smile, she said, "Okay. Where can we talk?"

He took her hand and led her to a car that was parked in a no-parking zone, opened the door for her to get in, and closed it behind her. As he walked back to the driver's side, he glanced around the streets quickly as if checking the neighborhood, and spoke quietly into what appeared to be a cell phone.

"This is Coulson. I need a full team. Beta site 3. Now." By the time he was on the other side of the car, the phone was in his pocket again. He looked toward the Stark building as he opened the door, and, seeing no one was following, got in. "Okay, Miss Potts. We'll be in a safe place in ten minutes. For now, just catch your breath."

She nodded, blinking quickly, and tried to calm herself. "Thank you."

He grinned at her with a slight tilt of his head. "It's what we do." He didn't ask her any questions, but kept an eye on her as they drove. Whatever was wrong clearly had something to do with Obadiah Stane; and something about it seemed to make her eyes water.

oOo

Fifteen minutes later, Pepper was sitting at a conference table in what she felt was an oddly well-equipped office. Odd in that it swarmed with ten or so men in formal dark suits in the basement of a building that, according to the signs outside, belonged to a low-rent exterminator. Agent Coulson came in and handed her a cup of tea.

"Here you are, Miss Potts. Are you up to talking now?"

"Yes, of course." She smiled up at him briefly, but it was automatic, and didn't last. "Thank you, Agent Coulson. I just…"

He gave her a reassuring smile as he sat down at the table. "It's alright, Miss Potts. You want to tell me what happened?"

Pepper took a deep breath. "I went to the office to get some information for Mr. Stark…"

The agent made a subtle gesture that indicated to one of his crew that a recording should be rolling. "Yes?"

"And I found this video… oh, God, if only you could-… Wait! I can show you…" She reached into her bag and pulled out the thumb drive. "I can access this, I have the password – some of it's proprietary, but mostly Stane –" Pepper stared at the drive as Coulson took it carefully from her. "I can…"

He plugged it into his computer. The screen asked ever so politely for a password, and, with trembling hands, Pepper typed it in. She hit the translation option, and frowned as the video played, breathing unsteadily.

_"You did not tell us that the target you paid us to kill was the great Tony Stark. As you can see, Obadiah Stane... " _

The image of Tony Stark, bloody, beaten, and clearly numb from fear punctuated the sentence. Coulson heard Potts quietly gasp when Stark appeared on the screen, and noted her shallow breathing as the video went on. The abuse to Stark was obvious, and her pained reaction made him reach out instinctively to touch her shoulder.

_"... your deception and lies will cost you dearly. The price to kill Tony Stark has just gone up." _

Coulson's jaw tightened. "Don't worry, Miss Potts… we'll see that Stane is –"

She suddenly began typing again. "Wait. There's more. There's…this."

She selected a folder and plans of the body armor appeared, flashing in succession on the screen. Coulson didn't look for more than two seconds before he turned to the men standing nearby. "Take this apart." The men nodded and several laptops appeared on the table like magic. With practiced efficiency they linked to the drive and divided up the sections of information.

After a few minutes, one of them spoke. "Sector 16?"

Coulson looked at Pepper. "Do you know where that is?"

"Yes, yes, it's in the lower section of the arc wing… I don't think it was being used before. I don't remember even hearing about it before." Her blue eyes grew dark as anger filled the space that fear had cleared. "I knew there was something going on with that man, but I never thought –"

Coulson nodded. "So he's got the space, and the tech. How far along?"

A few glances shot around the table as information was confirmed. "If this timetable is right, he's essentially ready."

"Hang on…" One of the men frowned at his screen. "Recent memos. The power source isn't coming together... looks like they were trying to recreate Stark's chest piece. He may have the armor built, but he still needs –" The man stopped abruptly, his eyes darting to Agent Coulson's.

Coulson swore softly. "Damn." It was only a moment, but his eyes registered just where one might get such a thing. Neither one of them was as fast as Pepper, though, who suddenly leapt up.

"Oh, my God. He's going to try to –"

"Miss Potts, can you take us to Sector 16?"

"But he'll kill him for it!"

"Miss Potts. We've got to stop him. That's not just armor, it's a killing machine. We can't let it get loose in the city –"

Pepper had her phone out before he finished. "Come on, Tony… damn." She pushed cancel on the unanswered call and shook the phone in her fist. She tried again in the car, still with no response from her boss. As they reached Stark Industries again, she nodded with a sudden decision. "I know." Hitting a number on speed dial, she got an answer almost immediately.

"Rhodes."

"Rhodey! Thank God. Listen, it's Obadiah, you've got to – you've got to find Tony. Rhodey, he's crazy, I found videos from the Ten Rings and he was paying them to do it! He was going to have Tony killed!"

The voice on the other end sounded confused, even though the man was clearly accustomed to Pepper's convoluted sentences when she was excited or upset. "What do you mean, he paid to have Tony killed?"

"I told you, it's on the video, he was trying –"

"Pepper, slow down. Why would Obadiah..."

"He just is. He's insane. He's making his own armor. And Rhodey, he probably needs a miniature arc reactor to make it work."

The colonel's voice suddenly went deathly serious. "Okay. Where's Tony now?"

"I don't know. He's not answering his phone. Please go over there and make sure everything's okay." Her voice softened slightly. "Thank you, Rhodey."

Coulson looked at her as she hung up, admiring the way determination shone through her as soon as she had chosen a path. _She'd make a fine agent… _

They walked into the back entrance of the reactor wing, and headed down the hall.

* * *

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* * *

Miles away, in the basement workshop of a cliffside home, Tony Stark fumbled through shards of broken glass to reach for his Mark I chestpiece. For a moment, he felt too weak to pick it up. _Why did I have to make that paralysis device so effective? And how long can I hold up without the generator backing up my heart?_ Pushing through the pain, he grabbed the chestpiece and rolled onto his back.

For a breath, he rested there, then picked the device up and tried to thread the cable into the open casing in his chest. "Damn cable. Can't even –" He tried again, but his fingers were fumbling blindly. He could hear his heart pounding in his ears, felt the pain in his chest radiating outwards.

Pain abruptly blossomed in his arm, and the chestpiece dropped from his hand, rolled off his chest and onto the floor. He scrabbled for it, anxiety adding nothing to his efficiency. He tipped sideways, reaching for it once more, not wanting to give up, but feeling more and more hopeless.

His voice came out in a hoarse whisper as his eyes closed. "Pepper…" Where were her petite hands when he needed them? He pictured her, imagined her concern, and suddenly, all he could see was Obadiah Stane's face; hear, once more, his words.

_"__Too bad you had to involve Pepper in this. I would have preferred that she lived."_

"No…" Tony's eyes opened again. He looked up and blinked into the lights. "Dummy", he gasped. "Get over here."

His first robotic assistant moved closer, lowering its sensor array with a soft keening noise. "Dummy. You've got to help me. I can't plug this in…" Tony rolled onto his back once more, his eyes closing. "I can't…"

The sound of servos working diligently was the only noise for the space of several painful heartbeats. Then Tony opened his eyes in time to see his robot had extended its fine work pincers, and had clumsily picked up the chestpiece by the plug end. It swung almost comically over his face. _Dummy, I hope when I tell you to plug it into my chest you understand what I mean… _

"Dummy. Plug that into… into the receptacle in my chest. _Only_ into the receptacle. Carefully. Now…" Stark closed his eyes. _If you can't figure it out, I'm done…_

The robot whined as it attempted the manoeuver, getting in its own way with the bulk of the miniature reactor. Slowly, it seemed to figure out the physics of the situation, and Tony gasped as he felt the pressure on his chest, just before the power kicked back in. He gulped air, then reached up and clicked the reactor into its casing. "Good boy. _Very_ good-" Rolling onto his stomach, he tried to grab the edge of the workbench and stand up – but he wasn't strong enough yet. He slumped to the floor, waiting for his strength to return.

He honestly didn't know how long he had blacked out for when he heard the voice. It seemed to come from far away… and at first, he thought it was his father.

"Tony?"

_Dad?_

"Tony?" The voice got closer, and Tony suddenly realized who it was. He only wished he was conscious enough to respond. He heard footsteps in the workshop, and felt a hand on his shoulder. "Tony!" The hand, strong, turned him gently. "Tony! You okay?"

Tony Stark opened his eyes and saw his best friend standing over him, concern radiating like warmth from a fire. In a flash, he remembered everything that had happened, and attempted to lunge to his feet. It took a bit longer than he had hoped.

"Where's Pepper?"

"She's fine. She's with five agents." Rhodes helped Tony to his feet as he spoke, trying to reassure him. "They're about to arrest Obadiah."

Stark did a quick calculation and gave his friend a bleak look. "That's not going to be enough."

Grabbing a strange tool from the workbench, Tony tightened the chestpiece in its socket, then threw the tool down and staggered a few steps.

The colonel shook his head, reaching out to steady him. "Take it easy, man. You've already been through hell tonight. And do you even know if that generator-"

"Rhodey, I've got to go. I'm not sure what Obie is up to, but-"

"Tony. Listen. He was responsible for your capture. They were supposed to kill you, not just keep you there. And now he's got his own armor."

Stark's eyes were haunted. "Finished?"

"It sounds like all he needed was one of these." Rhodes tapped Tony's chest. "Now what?"

Several indefinable emotions passed through Tony's eyes. He looked down, then up again into Rhodes' eyes, his voice a raw whisper. "Then I've got to take him out. No one else can."

"Yeah? And just how –"

"Come with me."

They walked farther into the workshop, and Rhodes gaped as he saw two suits of armor hanging in the center of the space. One shone silver, one red and gold. He shook his head in amazement and watched as the machinery dressed his friend, relieved to see that Tony seemed to be gaining strength as he suited up. The power assist of the armor probably helped.

"That's the coolest thing I've ever seen."

"Not bad, huh? Let's do it." Tony walked over to the hole he had inadvertently punched in the ceiling above the Shelby, and closed his helmet. Rhodes called out to him.

"You need me to do anything else?"

"Keep the skies clear." In a burst of light and sound he was gone, the additional sound of slightly more damage to the roof in his wake.

Colonel James Rhodes stared up at the hole, then looked at the silver armor that hung empty. "Damn!" The idea of flying without even an aircraft… "Next time, baby."

He ran upstairs and out into the night, the truck engine roaring as he shot down the drive. He needed to get to the base as fast as possible. Tony wanted the sky clear, and there was no way he would let him down.

* * *

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* * *

Agent Coulson and his team followed Pepper as she walked through the bowels of the arc reactor complex.

"Section 16. Section 16. There it is." She strode to the door and swiped her keycard. Nothing happened. Frowning, she tried again. "My key's not working. It's not opening the door."

Coulson nodded as he stuck a small, easily carried disk on the sector door. Miss Potts babbled nervously. "Oh, wow! What's that? It's, like, a little device? It's, like, a thing that's going to pick the lock?"

The agent triggered the device and looked at her. "You might want to take a few steps back."

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…_please feed the author…_


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